A Lost Heritage
by Cale017
Summary: When Cale and Rek Reigo's father sends them from Planet Vegeta following Bardock's warning, the brothers are locked in stasis for thirty years before crashing on Yardrat and awakening to new lives. Over a decade later the paths of the two brothers begin to diverge when Rek goes out on his own to find any remnants of their dying race and Cale leaves for Earth to find Goku.
1. Chapter 1 - Old Friends

[Note from the author:

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read this fanfic. I thought I'd outline a few key points before kicking it off. I, like many DBZ fans, dislike GT and how it ended the series. Together with some friends we began writing stories how we would have liked things to happen post DBZ, and began to include multiple original characters, two of which are included in this backstory and are my own creation.

I have permission from the creators to use both the stories we've written together as well as any of their original characters, although I will be rewriting the adventures in my own words. The beginning chapters of this will focus on the backstory for Cale and Rek Reigo, and will eventually combine into the group story later on.

I am constantly trying to develop my skills as a writer and a storyteller, so any feedback is welcome although I do have to ask that if it is about an aspect that you personally don't agree with not to put it as a public review and message me instead. Thank you for supporting my fanfic!]

An explosion. The heat wave, pressure enveloping his pod in the negative pressure of space. Being rocked about inside the tiny sphere, battered and bruised. A bright flash, bright enough to imprint itself forever in his young mind, even over the lost memories of his father and mother. But more than anything else, the death. Thousands of lives silenced, the profound lack of energy perceptible even to his underdeveloped ki sense. And then nothing...

Cale awoke, sweating. Around him his adopted family, along with his blood brother Rek, still slumbered peacefully. Only Cale was being disturbed, only he was tormented by the memories this night. He looked towards his brother, curled clumsily in the little alcove that was his bed in the Yardratian hut, and thought about how it must be for his brother, who had been old enough to remember their parents.

Rek had been 16 when it happened, Cale only 4. He'd heard the story countless times from his brother, always so that Cale would never forget what happened to the Saiyan race, and why it happened.

His brother was a warrior in Frieza's army, rising steadily from his graduating class as he accomplished mission after mission in the short two years after he'd become a full fledged member of the Planet Trade Organization. Cale and Rek's parents had been so proud of him, the son of two low class Saiyans rising like a star. There were rumors among the low class that Rek was set to join the elite, but he never got the chance.

Solara, Cale and Rek's father, had been relaxing after a day's research in Frieza's labs on Planet Vegeta. He and his coworkers were enjoying drinks in a cantina when another low class Saiyan, a friend of the Reigo family named Bardock, stumbled into the bar looking half dead, maybe more. While the arrogance of the Saiyans showed in full as they laughed at Bardock's warning of Frieza's treachery, Solara took the warning for truth.

He'd dashed out after Bardock when the Saiyan left defeated. His half finished drink was left on the bar, along with a tab he would never get to pay. "Bardock!" Solara called out, running up to the battered warrior. "Bardock, what's happened? Where's your team?" Solara hefted Bardock's weight, seeing the damage his friend had taken.

"Solara," Bardock stated through a grunt. His armor was cracked and he was bleeding, and Solara picked up on the coagulating blood staining the bandana around Bardock's head. "Dodoria... he killed my team while I was recovering from the assault on Kanassa." Bardock stopped suddenly, his head tossing back as he screaming and clutched at his skull. "I k-keep having these... these visions!"

"Bardock?" Solara exclaimed, supporting the warrior's weight during the strange fit.

It stopped as suddenly as it had started, though. "I'm okay," he assured Solara. "Just a headache."

"A headache?" Solara asked sarcastically. "Bardock, you look like you've been to the gates of hell and back!"

Bardock panted, blood dripping down his side. "Planet Meat... my team had gone there while I was healing so I followed them but Dodoria and Frieza's elites had... had..." His had reached up towards the bloody headband he was wearing. "I killed all of them. Frieza's so called 'elites' died at my hands like defenseless children. But Dodoria snuck up on me... his Chou Makouoku did this."

"Come on, stand up!" Solara urged. "Let's get your son and get out of here, I'll get my family and meet you at the port. We can take my personal ship and get out of here!"

Bardock shrugged his old friend off, however. "Kakarot left less than a minute before I arrived, and Raditz is already off world on assignment. He can handle himself, he's a grown man. And Kakarot... he's gonna be fine." There was an uncharacteristic hint of softness in the hardened Saiyan's voice at the mention of his youngest son, a softness that had never been there where Raditz was concerned.

"He's a newborn, how can you guarantee that?" Solara asked.

"I saw it," Bardock stated simply. In response to Solara's skeptical look, he went on. "The Kanassans... they did something to me. It's how I know Frieza is about to destroy the planet. But when I passed Kakarot on my way in it's like... like we linked. I saw his future. He'll be fine, I know it."

Solara was a scientist, he didn't believe in precognition, but he could also feel Frieza's monstrous presence far above. He wasn't scheduled to visit Vegeta for another three months, so why was he here now? It only lent credence to Bardock's claim. "Come on, we're getting out of here. We can take who all believes us and escape, grow stronger. Take down Frieza and his men for what they've done."

Bardock shrugged out of Solara's grip. "No," he huffed, standing up straighter. "There'd be no point. The Saiyans are doomed anyways. We've grown arrogant, stupid. What happened in the bar is what would happen all over the planet if we announced this, not that we'd have the time nor the resources to do so. Not to mention that Frieza would wipe us all out the moment we tried to say anything." Bardock peered upwards out of a window, towards one of the suns orbiting Vegeta.

"I'm going to end this now."

"What? You can't, that's suicide Bardock!" Solara yelled out, putting his hand on Bardock's shoulder. "Think of Kakarot, you need to be there to watch him grow. To train him. If we leave now we can still make it!"

Bardock turned, putting his own hand on Solara's shoulder, the blood on his palm staining Solara's undersuit. "There is no place for me in my son's future," he said quietly, but with a strangely warm smile. "And I've already seen him grow. Oh god... he looks just like me..." Bardock stopped, looking out the window again. "And when he's fully grown, he takes on Frieza for all of us."

Solara blinked, confused. "Wait... Bardock what are you saying?"

The battered Saiyan turned back to Solara, clapping him on the shoulder. It was as much physical affection as he was going to show. "I'm saying that you have about fifteen minutes to get your family out of here. I'm going to do what I can."

Solara opened his mouth, memories of his and Bardock's childhood flooding back. Bardock had always been stronger, always the fighter while Solara had thought things through. The two had been quite the team before Frieza took note of Solara's scientific capabilities and saddled him with a research position, while giving Bardock his own squad to lead. He wanted desperately to fight with his friend, be there when it all ended, but Solara had to worry about his family. He had to save them.

"Thank you," he said, grabbing Bardock's hand and removing it from his shoulder before sprinting towards his living quarters. It was the last time Solara would see his old friend.


	2. Chapter 2 - On the Run

Rek, the many times he'd told Cale their story as the boy grew, had always had a look of pain in his eyes when he taught Cale of their parents' sacrifice. He looked over at his brother's slumbering form, a mix of emotions rolling through his mind. Rek was the only other Saiyan Cale had known in memory, and he'd been forced to leave everything he had behind to save Cale. Even without the aid of the Yardratians, Cale had no doubt that his brother would have found a way to raise him alone.

Each brother was all the family the other had, even above the adopted families they had on Yardrat. The kindness with which they'd been taken in is something Cale knew he would never forget, but Rek shared his blood, his history. They shared a pain their Yardratian peers could not hope to fathom. A pain that stretched innumerable years, that left the brothers in a state of physical being that was unnatural, constantly reminding them of a choice they'd never had the option to make.

Solara had run in, desperation in his eyes. "Barei, grab the boys," he ordered his wife quickly.

Cale and Rek's mother, playing with Cale on the floor, had sat up upon hearing the strain in Solara's voice. "What is it?" she asked, years of their partnership telling her without a doubt that something was very wrong simply from Solara's intonation.

"I'll explain on the way," Solara said, immediately heading to he and Barei's bedroom.

Barei nodded, picking Cale up, the boy screaming at being taken from his toys so suddenly, and ran into Rek's room to wake him. He'd been sleeping after some training earlier that day. "Rek, wake up son," Barei pleaded, patting him on the shoulder.

Rek's immediate response, a trained response for a warrior, was to snap his eyes open. He was fully awake within the time it took him to open his eyes. "What is it, mother?"

She shook her head, confusion at Solara's words mixing with her faith in her husband. "I don't know yet, but your father wants us ready now. Help Cale and be in the living room. I have to go get ready myself." Barei trotted out of the room, leaving Rek to help Cale into a simple gi to travel in and to don his own armor. He picked his brother up, letting him play with his scouter, and walked into the living room briskly to await his parents. Rek could hear muffled gasps, his mother's shocked voice and his father's quite rumble although he could make out no words. A few moments passed, an ominous chill creeping up Rek's spine as he held his brother, and finally Solara and Barei emerged from their room.

Both of them in armor.

"Father, what's happening?" Rek asked as soon as he saw his parents dressed for battle. "You gave up the warrior's life long ago, why are you wearing the armor again?"

"On the way," Solara repeated, stuffing a photo into his armor and running out the door. Rek and Barei glanced at each other, Rek shifting Cale in his arms, and the two blasted out after Solara.

The sounds of their boots echoed through the eerily empty halls as the family ran. "It's Frieza," Solara said through breaths. He was a bit more out of shape than he'd like to admit. "He's betrayed the Saiyans, and he's waiting in orbit to destroy the planet with us all on it." Solara had opted to simply state the facts.

"How did you find out?" Rek asked, skeptical. He'd met Frieza once before during his acceptance into the PTO. The creature wasn't kind, but he didn't seem to have any problems with Saiyans.

"Bardock's squad was killed, and Dodoria attempted to murder Bardock himself," Solara explained. "But Bardock survived and made it back here to try and warn us all." He left out the bit about Bardock's recently developing precognition, unsure whether it was true himself, but that didn't change that he'd seen the evidence of Frieza's betrayal firsthand.

"Why are we the only ones running?" Barei asked, confused. "Where is the evacuation?"

Solara glanced back at his wife, taking in her face; beautiful, even through fear of an unknown fate, and still burning with Saiyan pride after years of being a tender mother. "No one believed him. Only a handful would even if we COULD announce it somehow, but the moment Frieza picked up on the planetary transmission he would crush us into cosmic dust all the faster. Bardock is on his way to do what he can, give us a chance to escape." Solara looked towards the largest sun as it passed by in glimpses through windows.

Rek, silently listening thus far, opened his mouth to speak as they followed Solara's lead in jumping out of a window, their auras overlapping as they shot through the skies towards the space port. "And we aren't helping him? He may be coarse, but Bardock has always been like family to you, and to us by extension. Take Cale, mother. I'm going to help Bardo-"

"Absolutely not!" Solara thundered, his power spike making Rek's scouter flash and Cale laugh as the small device let out a sudden series of beeps. The young man shut his mouth immediately, he'd never seen his father let his power get out of control. "You would waste the chance he has given us to live? I can understand you wanting to help, Rek. You do me proud. But Bardock's son is already off world, already shooting away from Frieza. He has nothing to lose. He is giving us the chance he doesn't have, to live together as a family."

"We're going on a trip, Daddy?" Cale asked, looking forward towards his father.

Solara kept his eyes forward, a growing pain behind the black pupils. "Yes, Cale. And we won't be coming back."

"Don't worry sweetie," Barei cooed while flying closer to take Cale from Rek. "It's time to leave this planet is all. Bigger things are waiting!" She smiled at the boy, too young to understand the gravity of the situation.

Rek flew the few short feet to his father so they could speak in hushed tones. "Father, why would Frieza do this to us?"

"You should understand better than most Saiyans, son," Solara said with a slight hint of satisfaction. "He fears us, what we're capable of. He fears the Super Saiyan."

"The..." Rek's eyes opened wide at the mention of such an old legend. "It's true that we're getting stronger with every mission," he said, thinking. "But we're nowhere near his elites! He has nothing to fear from us, we are loyal to him."

Solara's smile betrayed his Saiyan pride as it surfaced. "Come now, are you telling me the very blood in your veins would allow you to submit to a tyrant?" he asked his son. "Look at yourself, Rek. The son of two low class Saiyans, and yet you are fighting on par with elites! You and Bardock are perfect examples of why Frieza is doing this: Saiyans grow stronger whether we are throwing hits or receiving them, and eventually we would rebel."

His father's proclamation shocked Rek, but on some level he agreed. Many times he'd felt that he was subservient only because he was less powerful. When he'd trained he had always felt that he wasn't growing more powerful for Frieza to use, but for his own people.

"I can see it on your face," Solara said with a chuckle. "I am sorry to have bestowed you with more logic than a Saiyan should have to carry, my son. It is our people's way to rush headlong into battle, but it is our family's way to think before we fly. You are conflicted now as you always have been, but it's only on the surface now."

Simultaneously, before Rek could continue the conversation, Solara and Rek's scouters beeped. The two looked to the left, seeing three of Frieza's soldiers closing in. Solara nodded to Barei, who got the message.

Don't stop for anything.

She powered up and shot forward as Rek and Solara angled towards the soldiers.

"Going somewhere, Saiyans?" the one in center, a shorter purple lizard asked, his beak clicking.

"Out for a family fly, such a nice day!" Solara responded with a smile.

The soldier looked him and his son up and down. "In armor? I highly doubt it, and neither of you look like you're fresh off of a completed mission, given how you filthy apes enjoy basking in your own smell after you come back, so you shouldn't be in armor."

Rek's fist clenched at the insult, but Solara's subtle gesture held him in place. "Gotta make sure the old armor still fits, after all! And my son here was training earlier, fell asleep without changing. You know how young ones can b—"

"Can it, Saiyan," the soldier on the right, a large aqua colored beast said, his lips the width of his bald head. "My stomach always growls around lies. You aren't going anywhere, and after we've dealt with you we'll catch up to your female cohort."

Both Rek and Solara's eyes immediately set, glaring at the soldiers. Negotiations had failed, this was not going to be a stealthy getaway anymore. Both of the Saiyans vanished, appearing to the sides of the outer two soldiers. In unison they twisted in the air and sent their legs crashing into the backs of the aliens, cracking their spines. The two fell, their faces eternally frozen in pain. As the third soldier twitched his beaky visage left and right, Solara appeared and grabbed the creature's hardened mouth.

"You won't be going anywhere near my family," he said, his voice almost as chilling as the murderous glint in his eyes as the Saiyan's fingers cracked the alien's beak like nothing more than a twig. Before the creature could even make a sound, Rek axe handled its head practically into its body and it, too, fell towards the ground far below.

The Saiyans looked towards each other briefly before powering up and jetting towards Barei and Cale.


	3. Chapter 3 - Silent Goodbye

Within seconds the wizened Saiyan scientist and his warrior son had caught up with Barei and Cale, Solara having been pressing furiously the wrist pad linked wirelessly to his scanner for some reason. The look Solara gave Barei was enough for her to know that time was now of the essence, somehow more so than in the moments before.

"How long?" she asked her husband.

Solara grimaced, eyeing the space port in the distance. "Long enough."

Three auras streaked towards the domed structure, touching down just outside and running through the doors. Apparently a few of the other Saiyans had taken Bardock's warning in the bar; there was gore on the walls and broken armor everywhere, the hallways littered with the bodies of both Saiyans and Frieza's army.

"Father, look! Others are escaping! If they've plowed through Frieza's forces, it'll only make it easier on us." Rek reasoned, looking around as their boots echoed emptily through the halls.

Solara kept his eyes forward, glancing often at his scouter. "It's possible, but unlikely. I'm not detecting any other life in this building."

Barei held Cale closer to her chest, the boy now realizing something wasn't quite right. "It's okay, Cale," she cooed. "Everything's fine, we just have to run for a little longer." She peered up at Solara, him knowing to look back simply because he did, and they exchanged a nonverbal message.

"These boys will live."

The hallway seemed to go on forever, a never ending blank wall perforated by the odd ki blast, spattered with blood, and every so often they would come across the body of another warrior. Some were mangled to the point that it was impossible to differentiate them from a Saiyan or another alien.

Rek swallowed, taking it all in. He'd already killed but… not like this. His kills on his own missions were clean, fair. He took sport in his fighting ability, not in killing. He didn't let anyone suffer any more than was necessary to get information, or if they had done something particularly offensive to him or his team. But this… this was different. Frieza's goons were slaughtering for sport. The bodies they were finding were beyond recognition, far beyond dead. The aliens who were hunting his race weren't just killing them, they were brutalizing them.

"Caution, Rek," came Solara's warning. "Let your anger and disgust get the better of you and you'll send a beacon for every one of Frieza's soldiers in this building and for miles around."

The young man looked at his father, and now realized why he was keeping his eyes forward. The less they looked at the walls, the less they had to see. He cast one look over at his mother, who kept Cale's eyes carefully locked onto her face, and then directed his gaze in the same direction as his fathers.

And then three scouters went off.

A sudden dust cloud filled the hallway as two goons burst out of an inner room, a hungry glint in their eye. They were twins, exactly the same in every way, including the blood that dripped from their mouths. But the blood dripping from their wounds was a bright green. The red blood on their lips was that of Saiyans.

They were eating Saiyans.

The family stopped, turning immediately. Rek's face was a mix of revulsion and fury, Barei's much the same, but Solara kept calm.

"Guaca, look!" said the first, on the right. "It's like we ordered some delivery."

The second licked his lips, the blood smearing. "Hehehe… indeed, Mole. And would you look at that! They even brought us dessert…" he replied, eyeing Cale menacingly.

Solara's face cracked at this. "You won't be going anywhere near my son!" He stepped forward, powering up. Dust flew around the hallway as he did, Rek and Barei's scouters jumping into the thousands. "Rek, Barei! Get to our ships, now."

The older brother opened his mouth to say something, but the sight of his father standing before him, aura filling the hallway, was enough to convince the boy not to object. He nodded, promising that he would protect his mother and brother, and took Barei's hand to run down the hallway.

Within seconds they had rounded a bend as the two began hearing explosions in the hall they had just left. Their scouters beeped, warning of multiple targets closing in on Solara's position from both within the space port and from outside it, roaming patrols who'd caught the power flare. If Barei had believed in a god, she would have been praying to it. Instead she prayed to her husband's powers.

They finally came to the entrance of the main port, where the Reigo family's ships would be waiting. "Damnit!" Rek swore, seeing that the entrance was blocked off by debris. "Step back, mother, we don't have time to dig through this."

"Rek, don't! If you blast that, they'll find us!" Barei pleaded, stepping back and holding Cale closer.

"We have no choice, mother," he replied quickly, narrowing his eyes at the pile of rocks. "I don't need my full power, just enough."

Barei considered her son's words, but knew he was right. It would take far too long to dig through this.

Rek spread his arms wide, electricity crackling in them as he stored up energy. As the hallway began to glow, cast with his double silhouette, he swiveled his arms to his front, keeping them outstretched as he fired off a red wave a few feet wide. "Vanquish Blaster!"

It fired off, flashing bright as it tore through the rocks. No spray launched out, the debris had simply been vaporized, a perfect hole shorn right through the center of it. Rek crawled in, checking the port. It seemed clear enough. "Mother, give me Cale and then come through yourself."

The woman set Cale down, glancing backwards as Cale crawled through the hole towards his older brother's voice. As soon as he was close enough, Rek swooped him up and allowed Barei to come through. As she made her way lithely through the tunnel, a sudden explosion rocked the building and dust spewed out of the hole, Barei herself being flung out of it roughly.

"SOLARA!" she screamed, her voice shrill, holding her hand towards the now reclosed entryway. "NOOOOOO!" She beat the ground, cracks spreading from where her fists impacted. For a moment Rek was reminded of the warrior his mother truly was, her anguish being taken out on the unfortunate floor as the cracks spread up the wall. She turned, tears streaming her dusty face. "We have to keep moving, Rek. We have to get you and Cale out of here." A determination was now set deep in her heart, and it was showing in her glassy eyes.

Rek nodded, fighting his own urge to cry. It wouldn't do, not for an elite. He turned towards the open aired port and flew to their ships, reaching the small bubbles as another blast echoed out in the large wall opposite the opening to dock and launch. A group of ten of Frieza's elites stood in the hole, eyeing the Saiyans with varying degrees of disgust, anger, and amusement.

They'd felt the explosion, their scanners warning them the seconds before it had happened, but the mother and son didn't look back. They used what precious little time they had to close the gap between them and their ships.

However, only two sat waiting for them. One of the others was now breached by the body of a large alien, most likely tossed into it by a Saiyan, and the other was nowhere to be seen, possibly somehow hacked into and launched.

"Get Cale into the ship, and then get into your own," she barked, turning to face the coming onslaught. The aliens were in no rush, their sadism at its height. "I have the launch codes as well; your father sent them to me while you two were catching up."

"But what abou-"

"NOW, Rek."

The boy didn't argue. He held his brother in his arms and looked down at the once smiling face. Cale was staring at the coming aliens and growling, the young Saiyan getting angry. He could tell that the group wanted to hurt them and even someone so young wanted to fight. Rek felt pride wash over him at the look on his brother's face, defiant even in the face of people who could kill him without effort.

Rek ran over to the pods, dialing a quick passcode into the console near them. They opened with a hiss as Barei powered up, her long hair streaming out and upwards as a harsh wind whipped through the hangar. As Rek latched Cale securely into his seat, checking to ensure that all of the systems were still in working order after the battle that had occurred in the area, he put his hand on his brother's face. "It's going to be alright," he promised, his face letting love show through, a tear falling. "I'm always going to protect you, brother."

"I know, Rek," came the reply, soft as the hand that reached out. Rek took his brother's hand in his own gloved palm, smiling. The younger Saiyan's grip was strong for his age, reassuring. "What about mommy and daddy?"

Rek could hear the fight happening behind him, his scouter beeping and flashing as his mother's power grew, and then two of the aliens simultaneously vanished off of his readings. "D… daddy won't be coming. And neither will mommy," he said, his voice cracking.

He looked back, considering the options. "No… I take that back. Mom's going with you." He spared one last smile at Cale, prepared for what he was about to give up for the lives of his mother and brother, before running over to the panel and slamming his palm down on the switch to make the door of Cale's pod latch shut.

Rek let his anger over his fallen brethren, his father, wash over him in an instant, his power skyrocketing as it did. Scouters flashed throughout the area as Rek joined the fray.

"What are you DOING?" Barei demanded as she ducked under a punch, her knee digging into her attacker's gut as the large green beast let out a spray of blood and spit, falling back for the moment.

"I'm making sure Cale has someone to grow up with," he replied, tossing his mother out of the way of a blast and smacking it back towards its creator. The creature exploded backwards, smoke trailing its body as it smacked into a wall, black blood smearing down the as the body slid to the floor. Only seven left now.

"No, you're going with your brother!" Barei screamed out, firing a wave that disoriented a large, bull like creature before she dashed in and grabbed hold of its nose ring, spinning around and throwing it towards a group of two who'd been flying towards them to intervene. "Don't you argue with me, Rek!"

The young warrior smiled evilly, relishing the fight even in the circumstances. "I'm sorry mother, but Cale needs you. Father had already died to save us, you shouldn't as well. Besides, I can hold them off while you prepare the launch codes."

She stopped fighting for a moment, having just punched one of her bug like attackers squarely in the sternum and cracking its hard outer carapace. "… very well. I will prepare the ships." She looked one last time at her son, and then launched backwards, firing off ki blasts as she did.

Rek turned to face the group, realizing that it had somehow gotten bigger. More of Frieza's army had tracked the fight and were pouring into the hangar. But none of them would get past him. Not many of them were stronger than he was, but there were a lot more of them than of him.

Barei hovered at the console, brushing her hair out of the way as she furiously coded in Solara's passwords and log ins multiple times, slowly overriding the locks on launching that had been enacted probably by Frieza's men to prevent the Saiyans from launching. She entered all but the final keystroke, her hand wavering above it.

The mother drifted over to Cale's locked pod, looking in at her boy. He looked up at her and smiled, reaching up with his hand, but became slightly distressed as his short arm couldn't reach the glass. He fought in vain against the straps that held him, crying out in muted silence for his mother. She let out a stifled cry and put her hand against the glass, trying to comfort him. Rek was right. Cale needed someone. But she was going to die with her husband, protecting her children.

The young elite in training was beginning to be overwhelmed. As the bodies began to drop from the air around the fight Rek took more and more hits, his armor wearing and cracking as he began to bleed from the eyebrow and cheek, tasting blood where he'd bit into his own mouth from a punch. Four large aliens, varying shapes, flew to him and grabbed hold of his legs and arms as he bucked and screamed to get free. He let out a small explosive wave, sending the four flying as six more waylaid him, this time restraining him as another burly creature flew up to his front, beginning a massive assault of punches to his face and chest.

A boot appeared, swinging wide at the larger alien, the force shattering its skull and forcing the fragments into its brain as the creature died instantly. In the moment of shock from Barei's return to the fight Rek powered up again, another wave sending the second group outwards.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Rek demanded, turning to face her as she fought a new wave of enemies.

Barei spun, her tail wrapping around and cracking the throat of an attacker as it whizzed by her. "I'm not living while my son dies for me."

Rek opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off again. A wide beam of ki broke through the upper half of the wall, the energy ripping a hole through the forces that were hovering above the Saiyans and waiting for their turn. Pieces of steaming body fell as the parts that were caught in the blast were obliterated.

Battered, bleeding, and holding onto a gaping hole in his side, Solara stood with one arm out. Blood was coating his face, both his own and the blood of others, and he launched down into the crowd screaming.

"AAAAHHHHHHHGGG!" Solara was every bit the soldier he once was as he ripped through the forces who were still recovering from the shock of the explosion. He spun and threw punches, snap vanishing his way through the soldiers as explosions rent them and his fists broke through armor, snapping bone.

"Solara?" "Father?" came simultaneous exclamations.

He smiled to them briefly as his foot snapped the head of an alien back hard enough for its spine to crack and break through it's neck. "Leave, Rek. Now."

"No, father, not this time," he denied vehemently, shaking his head as he charged another Vanquish Blaster. "I fight with you."

"You never were good at taking directions," Barei teased as she appeared in front of him, her palm flying straight forward as she fired a kiai. The blast sent the boy screaming into his space pod, which rocked at his entrance. Barei snap vanished to him, giving him a rough punch in the diaphragm. The air flew out of Rek's lungs just long enough for Barei to latch him in and slam the door shut, smiling weakly.

She calmly walked over and pressed the final key to launch them, the timer starting. Rek bashed his hands against the glass and struggled in futility; his ship was locked and he couldn't open it until after it had launched and detected suitable environment.

Barei looked balefully at her son's screaming face, Cale now wondering what was going on as well that made his mother walk away from him when she had been so close just now, and rocketed back towards her husband.

"The timer's started, Solara."

"So we just have to keep them off of the boys?" he confirmed, his voice a bit saddened.

Barei appeared behind him, kicking away a soldier that had snuck behind the man. "It's okay. They'll be alright." She put her hand on her husband's shoulder, Solara placing his own on her hand without looking at her.

"Just like old times?" he asked his wife, their eyes meeting. But this was different, more than love. It was the bond they'd developed since they were teenagers. They looked at each other as equals, as husband and wife, and for the first time in a long time as warriors in battle.

"We never really left them behind in the end," she replied, kissing her husband briefly.

The two separated, launching across the fight as the aliens who crowded the area began to get over the shock of Solara's blast.

Barei ducked and weaved, her agility giving her the edge over many who came at her. The woman was rusty, but still a Saiyan warrior. Her former skills returned quickly as she dashed around, bouncing from one enemy to the next as she weakened them, Solara not far behind her to deliver powerful finishing blows. She whipped the two knives in her belt up into her hands, charging herself with energy for her next movements.

"Dance of the Edge!" she shouted out, her body enveloping in an orange aura as she launched forward, vanishing from view. A moment later the bodies of the soldiers who'd been in front of her lurched, exploding outwards with blood as she came back into view on the other side of them, sheathing her blades.

"That's still sexy!" Solara joked, launching his own attack. He set his arms next to his waist, growling as he charged up a small bit of energy in each hand. "Vacuum Launcher!" As two aliens flew at him he snap vanished, his palms impacting their chests, shooting them towards a wall, and then quickly flew away. They screamed, suddenly clawing at their chests as a bright light illuminated them from the inside out, their innards disintegrating as their bodies hit the wall and caved in on themselves.

He turned to face Barei, who had spared a glance at her husband fighting with a nostalgic smile, a look of horror flashing his face as he screamed, "BAREI, LOOK OUT!"

She turned, but only fast enough to see the creature that impaled her. It laughed, its bony white forearm holding her up on a spike as she fell down onto it further, her body twitching.

For a moment, Solara was in shock. He stared at his wife as the creature tossed her away like nothing more than garbage. His scouter beeped, alerting him to Rek's growing power at watching his mother die, and it brought him back to the fight. He roared, bloodlust dripping out of his mouth, as he dashed towards the creature who had killed his wife, the mother of his children. But it was gone somehow, vanished into thin air.

Instead he turned to the enemies he COULD see. The fight was creeping closer to Rek and Cale's pods, and he was determined not to let it get to them. He only had to keep fighting for another minute, and then he could let the black flickering at the edges of his view take over. Just a little while longer…

He blasted towards the aliens again, renewed fury racing through his blood as his vision, what wasn't covered by the creeping black at the edges of his sight, turned red.

Solara fought. His kicks sent out shockwaves as his fists pierced the armor of his enemies, the bodies falling and being propelled backwards as wave upon wave of enemies came at the Saiyan. His body began to go numb, the hits he'd sustained previously kicking in as he felt his side begin to get cold, his body losing blood rapidly from the hole beneath his ribs.

The crowd grew closer.

The timer ticked. Only seconds left.

THERE!

Solara spotted the creature in the background, licking at Barei's blood on its arm like some sort of candy, and launched towards it. He tackled through the enemies in his way, and his fist launched directly at the massive, bone covered beast.

It barely had time to look up before his fist cracked its face, piercing straight through to the other side as Solara was sprayed with blood, grunting as he pulled his arm out of the creature's head. It fell to the ground as his timer ticked below ten seconds. He slid down against the wall, watching as the ships powered up, Rek beating the door.

"MOTHER! FATHER!" Rek screamed, rocking the pod where it sat on the jelly like launch pad. "NononononNONONO!" His fists beat uselessly against the hardened glass as he watched his father slump against a wall, as helpless as his brother was in the pod next to him.

Solara turned his head, looking over at his sons. Rek was a true warrior, he never lost the will to fight, and was to be inducted into the elite before this had happened. A Saiyan… born of low class and accepted as an elite… the father smiled at his son, all of his love and pride showing.

He stood, staring down the aliens. They were hovering in shock, staring at what he'd just done to their commander. He set his eyes, casting one final, long look at Cale. He would never get to see his boy grow, never get to see him fight.

But the important thing was that Cale would be able to grow and fight.

As the timer ticked to zero, the pods rumbling and starting to hover, Solara started jogging and then running, sprinting before flying into the air towards the center of the mass of soldiers.

Rek and Cale watched, zooming out of the hanger horizontally, as Solara's aura came into life, the Saiyan every bit as powerful as he'd been in his youth.

A final look of defiance lit up, burning in Solara's eyes as his sons shot away, arcing upwards. They would live.

As they flew higher, Rek screaming himself hoarse, the docking bay they had just been, along with half of the building, exploded outwards, Rek's scanner showing his father's energy spiking above ten thousand just before fading to nothing.

And then he saw it. A massive red sun floating above a ship in orbit, about a quarter way around the circumference of Vegeta from where they were shooting away. It began to move, slowly, burning into the atmosphere of the planet. It inched closer, almost a third of the size of the planet itself, and for a moment everything went silent as it flattened against the world.

And then there was an explosion. A bright light suffused his pod, the young man squinting against tearing eyes, a sudden and violent shockwave rocking his ship, and when he opened him again there was nothing. Rocks and dust floated outwards into space slowly, the only memories left of Planet Vegeta's physical form.

He reached up to the communicator linked to Cale's ship, flicking it on. "Cale?"

He heard only sniffling on the other side.

"I… I know, Cale," he said somberly biting back tears. "Mom… mommy and daddy aren't coming with us. From now on it's just going to be us."

A hiccup, another wave of sobs.

"It's okay… I'm here, Cale."

"Where are we going, Rek?" came the shaky reply.

Rek pulled up the nav data; a planet a few systems away, holding another healing center. "Somewhere safe," he told Cale. 'If Frieza doesn't get there first,' he silently thought.

"What…" another hiccup, "What happens when we get there?"

Rek closed his eyes, fighting back the lump in his throat. "I don't know for sure, Cale. But I promise you, we'll handle anything that happens together."

"Because you're my big brother?" Cale asked.

A tear fell down Rek's cheek. "Yeah. Because I'm your big brother."


	4. Chapter 4 - March of Survival

The flashing red of the alert stung Rek's blurry eyes as he rose from his slumber, vaguely registering what the muffled siren in his ear meant. He coughed, feeling as though he'd slept for a week, and pulled his data pad over with a rough yank. His lips were dry and cracked, and he could faintly make out the sound of Cale crying out his name over their linked intercom system.

He reached up, flicking the switch to let his voice send over to Cale's pod. "Cale," he said, his voice raspy. He coughed, reaching over to a small compartment to grab a packet of a hydrating solution. He bit into it, but it tasted odd… old. The few cups of drink did their job, albeit weakly, and he cleared his throat before speaking a bit louder. "Cale, it's okay!"

On the other end, he could hear Cale calming down now that Rek was awake. "Just give me a second, let me find out where we are." He tried to pull up their nav data, but something was wrong. It was saying that they'd reached their target planet… and had been there for thirty years.

Rek shook his head, attributing it to stasis sickness. He wasn't reading right, that was all. That had to be all. But when he looked, there it was again. He cursed, coughing again. "Okay Cale, I think something happened while we were asleep. Just reach beside you and unlock the little door. There's food and drink inside of it."

"Okay," came the reply, as well as the sound of the compartment in Cale's pod unlatching. Eating would keep the boy busy and, from his young age, would also keep the Saiyan entertained long enough for Rek to focus.

His fingers blurred across the keypad in his pod as he tried to figure out what had happened. They'd definitely been in stasis longer than it should have taken to get to their planet, but why was it saying that they'd arrived? Rek rubbed his hand across the frosted window of his pod to clear it, and saw a massive green planet looming ahead; the source of the alert that had awakened him.

They were definitely heading towards a planet, but it was definitely not the one they'd expected to land on. He immediately went into his starmap, trying to figure out where they were. He watched, more than a little shocked, as the map started on Planet Vegeta and blurred as it sped away from their late home to track their current position. The planet they were about to have an unexpected landing on? Unnamed.

Something was very wrong. It didn't help that just as Rek located their position they entered the atmosphere, red flickering outside of the window on his pod as they shot down towards the planet's surface, burning a bright green as they continued to plummet. Cale had resumed his screaming, any four year old would have done the same given the circumstances.

Rek's stomach was doing flips, but not just from the adrenaline rush of being pulled by the planet's gravity. They were about to land on an unknown world a distance that, by his glancing calculations, should have taken decades to reach. And what was worse was that the trip timer coincided with that, but thirty years in stasis? They would have died… or woken up half dead.

"Alright brother, I need you to listen," he said, hearing Cale vomit on the other end. "I know this is scary, but you need to stay calm. Just listen to my voice." He typed furiously at his keypad, adjusting the entry vectors for both Cale and himself, trying to even their pods out in relation to the planet's surface. With no pads to land on this was going to be rough, especially on Cale.

"There are some straps that will wrap around you," he instructed, still changing the variables for their rotation and carefully inching them to keep the bottom of their pods facing the ground below. "Latch it across your chest, and let me know when you have."

He waited, his fingers still as he stared at the speaker. A few moments passed before there was a faint click and Cale spoke, "I did it."

Rek sighed in relief. "Good, good. Now grab the loose straps and give them a good yank, as tight as you can. If I have to try to get them off when we land, you get a prize," he offered, trying to give Cale some extra incentive to get them on tighter.

There were some strained grunts before a slightly choked reply came. "Got it Rek."

"Okay, Cale. You're doing great," he commended the boy. Cale was a fast learner, that was sure. "Now I just need you to hold onto the metal bars next to you. No matter what, you don't let go okay?" Their pods were rocking more and more as they hurtled downwards.

"I won't. Rek, are we crashing?" the question was straightforward.

Rek closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. "Not if I can help it." He tightened his own straps, focusing all of his attention on making sure that they landed in one piece. He watched outside of his window at the trail of fire his pod was leaving, and the twin trail coming from Cale's pod next to his. He pulled up an external camera and through the flickering green of their entry flames he could see the ground coming up. And it was coming a lot faster than he liked it to.

"Cale, HOLD ON!" he screamed, gripping at his own handles as their pods shot down within thousand meters of the ground. The distance was closed in less than fifteen seconds, and it felt like a lifetime. The crash was almost deafening for a moment, and then Rek WAS deaf. His head was knocked around as dirt and debris kicked up around their pods, and the lights inside of his craft flickered.

When at last they finally came to a stop he could hear a whining in his ears and shook his head, unlatching his straps automatically. His training took over as his hands worked even while his mind was fuzzy and he hit the switches to activate the coolants for their pods, realizing with a start that he could now hear the hiss as their pods were cooled from the inside out. When the small green light by his door turned on he punched the release and the door shot open, Rek stumbling out.

He collapsed onto his hands and knees, a spray of vomit splashing the rocks he was kneeling over. Rek drew in a shaky breath, trying to stand but momentarily unable to. Now that his adrenaline was dying out the motion sickness was kicking in. He forced himself to stand, wiping his mouth on his glove, and forced himself over to Cale's pod.

Peering through the glass he saw the young Saiyan passed out, a trail of bile down his chest and his head lolled over. He was breathing, and for that Rek was thankful, but the landing had taken its toll on him. "Let's get you out of there…" his hands worked quickly, taking apart the harness keeping Cale pressed into his seat, and picked the boy up.

He shouldered Cale, his younger brother's head on his shoulder, and looked around. They were lucky to have landed on a planet that, while it appeared gaseous from outside, actually had a solid core. Had it been a gas giant their ships would have been crushed in the center. But in every direction he looked there was an astounding amount of nothing. Some rock precipices and a rolling fog, but nothing besides that.

There was nothing to do but leave. The comm systems in their pods had been ruined during the crash, and the nav systems were likewise smashed along with his scouter. The shipboard computers were barely running and he MIGHT be able to repair them if he could find the supplies, but it didn't even look like this planet had any life on it.

Rek stuffed the remaining nutrient bars and the drinks from their pods in his armor, the only place he could put it, and started walking. At first he followed the deep swaths in the dirt that their pods had made during the impact, but an hour later he couldn't even see the pods and was no closer to any sign of civilization.

Time passed slowly and Rek continued to walk, his legs slowly getting tired as he went. He'd given up on trying to figure out how long he'd been marching, the gas in the atmosphere made it almost impossible to know where the sun was and even if he had a clear view he didn't know how long the days on this planet were in relation to galactic standards.

After a while he could feel Cale shifting at his shoulder, the younger Saiyan slowly coming out of his unconscious state. Cale lifted his head up, looking around confused. "Rek, where are we?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

Rek kept going, his eyes doggedly set on the horizon. There had to be something on this planet. "I don't know," he admitted. "Are you hungry?" He looked sideways at Cale, taking in his face. There were dark circles around Cale's eyes and his cheeks appeared gaunt. "You look like you could use a break," he suggested, knowing full well that he was the one in need of rest.

Cale nodded, yawning, and shifted so that Rek could set him down. He did so gently, falling backwards ungracefully onto his hind end and rubbing his legs. He smiled weakly at Cale and pulled out the last of their food bars. "I promised, didn't I?" he prompted, holding his ration out.

This got a smile from his younger brother, who pounced on the food and unwrapped it, shoving the bars into his mouth and grinning as he chewed, although he appeared a bit pained as he did so. Rek pulled the three drink packets he'd grabbed out of his armor, handing two of them to Cale. The boy downed them both while Rek sipped at his own, letting the liquid cool his cracked lips and dry throat.

Before long Cale had finished and stood, dusting his butt off, and looked around. "Where are we going?" he asked, his eyes, too keen for any Saiyan his age, locking back onto Rek.

He finished the last of his drink pouch, tossing it aside and standing. "I don't know, but we'll find it together," he said, holding his hand out to Cale. "Feel like a flight?"

The boy nodded, grasping Rek's hand, and he swung Cale around and onto his back where his brother latched onto him firmly. "Okay," he said, more to himself than to Cale. He didn't know how much flight he had in him right now. "One… two… three!" He launched himself into the air, pushing ki below him to stay airborne and sailing forward as the wind picked up around them, blowing their hair back.

Rek pushed himself to keep going lost past when Cale was already getting tired and snoozing on his back, keeping his eyes peeled for any sort of housing, any farms, any sign of existence on this planet other than the endlessly rolling fog. It was definitely getting darker now, and he could feel his energy dipping dangerously low. Even though flying took a miniscule amount of ki for him, after the crash and being in stasis for… for who knows how long, his energy was already dwindling and he felt himself having a hard time keeping a steady altitude.

Until he noticed something far in the distance. It was hazy at first, but he started making out the edges of some rudimentary huts. Finally, life! He shot forwards, burning the last of his energy and realizing only too late that in his haste he hadn't judged the distances correctly. Rek couldn't even stay aloft, try as he might, and landed hard, keeping himself from rolling over onto the sleeping Cale.

His knees stung from the harsh landing but he forced himself to stand, pushing up and taking off towards the village he saw on foot. His steps were uneven as Cale woke up on his back once again, and realized too that they were running towards a sign of life. He seemed to perk up, pointing and grinning. "Rek, look! I bet they have food."

Rek was panting now, each step feeling heavier than the last, and nodded. "And… and water…" he agreed, still digging deep to sprint. They were getting closer… just a little bit farther.

The warrior's legs were getting shaky, and he could feel a stitch in his chest as his legs slowly became jelly beneath him. He kept going from sheer force of will until he stepped on a loose rock and went flying forward, dully realizing that his feet weren't below him anymore. His chin busted against the ground as his chest bounced, Cale being dislodged from around him and rolling to a stop.

Cale stood quickly, running back over to Rek and yanking at his armor. "C'monnnnnn!" he urged, pulling with everything he had but barely able to shift Rek. "Brother, we're almost there!"

Rek coughed, a plume of dust shooting out from besides his face as he struggled up to his elbows, looking towards the village. His chest picked up off of the ground, Cale still pulling him along as he hobbled forwards a bit, trying to get his legs beneath him as his vision blurred. He could see the faint outlines of a group flying into the sky and coming towards them and it gave him the adrenaline he needed to scuffle to his feet, standing in front of Cale haggardly.

He waited, dizzy and watching his vision come and go, as the shapes came closer. He clenched his fists, raising them weakly. "Don't… don't even think about hurting him," he ordered, unable to focus on the diminutive figures that landed in front of him.

The aliens peered curiously at Rek and Cale, not moving closer but not backing away, and conversed with each other in a strange series of vowels and clicks before nodding and turning back to him. "Saiyan?" the one in center asked.

"S... Saiy…." Rek repeated confused. How would an unknown world have knowledge of his race? He nodded, raising his hand a bit more. "If you know what I am, don't… don't hurt… don't touch Cale…"

He fell facefirst, hearing his younger brother gasp and felt him start pulling at his armor as the aliens walked closer. He looked up to see Cale standing in front of him protectively, but couldn't move as his strength finally gave out and he passed out, the strange beings coming closer.


	5. Chapter 5 - A New Life

Cale walked outside of the small hut, the cool nighttime breeze against his skin helping to calm him from the nightmare. It was almost as if he could feel the heat from his planet exploding just from the memory of the blast. He shut his eyes, taking in a deep breath. Twelve years had passed since they had arrived on Yardrat. Cale was sixteen, on the verge of taking the test to become a man in the village they lived in, and Rek was twenty eight now.

The teenager began pacing through the village, eventually coming to rest on a large rock not too far from the outskirts of the huddled housing area of his village, the bulbous blue stucco houses almost blending into the night's dark purple horizon. He let his tail hang down, the cool boulder soothing to his heated body. Cale looked upwards, thinking back on the day that he and Rek had arrived on Yardrat as he pondered how he'd come to be so close to his own rite of passage.

The green beings had closed in around Rek's unconscious body and Cale, small but still trying to keep them away from his brother. He'd mimicked Rek's pose, raising a fist and gesturing at the aliens. "S-stay away!" he stammered, his body shaking. "I'm strong too!"

Cale's eyes opened wider when he heard a voice inside his head, his face going somewhat blank and his fist dropping a bit. "Calm yourself, young Saiyan," the voice was soft and kind, almost like his mother's. "We don't want to hurt you or your brother."

His eyes flitted from one side of the group to the other. "Who's talking?" he demanded, shutting his eyes and covering his ears. "Stop it! Just go away!"

One of them stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. Cale let out a small gasp before looking up into the bulbous and squinted eyes of the one touching him, not knowing whether to run or try to fight back. "Cale," the voice came again, and the alien touching him smiled, its small mouth twitching upwards in a smile. "Please calm yourself. We want to help. Surely you must be hungry?"

At the mention of food, Cale stopped shaking. His stomach growled and he placed a hand on it, looking up into the eyes of the alien speaking to him. "Wh… who are you?" he inquired, meeting the gaze of the creature.

"My name is Kal'teek," it said. "I have looked into the mind of both you and your brother, and I am deeply sorry for your losses; both of them."

He sniffed, memories of his mother flooding back briefly. Cale felt hot tears welling up in his mind before he was lifted into the air, held aloft by the alien. It put a finger up to its lips, smiling again. "Don't cry," it said aloud, and this time Cale was sure the voice was a girl's. "I don't think your parents would want that would they?"

Cale gave another small sniffle before nodding, rubbing his eyes to clear them. "N-no… Kal'teek, why are you helping us?" he asked, looking up at the alien holding him.

"Because, young one," she replied, another warm smile crossing her oddly proportioned face. "You, more than anyone, need someone to guide you right now."

He pushed away, a little angry now. "But I have Rek! He said we'll always be together!"

Kal'teek nodded, smiling down at him. "The bond between brothers is strong, Cale," she acknowledged. "It can get two boys through a lot. But two boys cannot grow on their own." She raised a hand, touching her palm to Cale's forehead and pushing images into his mind. "We can give you food, water, shelter, and a place to grow stronger," she cooed, flashes of a feast and a bed going through Cale's mind. "We only wish to help both you and Rek."

For a moment Cale looked up towards Kal'teek, taking it all in. The images in his mind reminded him of home, and he desperately wanted real food. He looked towards his brother, thinking. Rek was his older brother. The only family he had. Just looking at Rek's prone body, Cale could almost feel the life leaving his brother. Cale couldn't lose him, and these people wanted to help.

Cale nodded, looking back towards the aliens. "Please help us. Don't let Rek die. I can't… I don't wanna lose him too," he said, his eyes tearing up as he dug his face into Kal'teek's shoulder, sobbing.

The female nodded to the other around her, who quickly set to work lifting Rek up and taking off into the sky. "It's okay, Cale. You and Rek are safe now."

Three days later, Rek awoke with a start, jumping out of bed and throwing his covers off. For a split second he wondered why his alarm hadn't gone off and how late he was for roll call before the memories of their frantic escape crashed down onto his reality, and he sat back on bed as the young man was overwhelmed. Rek choked back a silent sob, gritting his teeth, before realizing that he had no idea where Cale was… or where either of them were for that matter.

Rek surveyed the area he was in, a small room with a simple flap covering the entrance. Sunlight streamed in from around the edges of the door, but it was off… greener than it should have been. Another memory came back to him, this time of the strange aliens crowding around his body and Cale standing between him and the group.

The aliens.

Cale. He had to find Cale.

Rek ran outside, his mind on high alert, and threw open the flap. All within a second he tilted his head around, taking in the surroundings. He was in the middle of what appeared to be a village made of blue, somewhat flattened along the top and bottom, spherical buildings. They appeared to be some sort of a mixture of clay and metal, and strange red and blue aliens busied themselves tending to the chores any village would have to handle.

Before Rek could even take a step towards the nearest villager, a small pink alien he guessed the female of the species, he heard a familiar and immediately comforting voice. "Rek, you're awake!" Cale shouted, veering in front of Rek, zipping through the air and coming around to tackle into his older brother with a hug.

"Wha—AH!" Rek shouted, taking a step back as Cale barreled into him.

From the air. Cale didn't know how to fly…

He put a hand on Cale's head, giving the boy's hair a rough rub as the younger of the brothers looked up, his eyes bright. "Cale, what's going on?" he asked, looking around as a small crowd gathered.

"Brother, it's amazing!" Cale responded, speaking quickly. "We're on a planet called… um, called Yarplat, and these people want to help us and they make REALLY good food and they even taught me to fly while you were asleep. I was worried about you, you were asleep for a long time brother!" He buried his grinning face in Rek's chest again as an alien stepped forward, addressing Rek.

"Your brother has told us much about you," she said, bowing. She took a few steps forward, chuckling at Cale, still wrapped tightly around Rek's torso. "Your brother is smart, more so than I believe has been given credit. He learned to fly in only two days, although he seems to have a hard time articulating still. The planet you are actually on is Yardrat, and I am Kal'teek."

Rek raised an eyebrow, listening, his arm still wrapped around Cale. But now it was only half from affection, the other half was a protective urge he didn't dare to stray from. His eyes narrowed. "How do you know about Saiyans?" he asked, standing and holding Cale. "No species that knows of my race has ever taken one of us in willingly. Surely you know what we do."

"We know what you did," Kal'teek responded, shaking her head. "When I met your brother I told him I was sorry for your losses. But you have lost much more than you realize, young Saiyan."

"Explain," he stated. "Before I blast this village away and find a way off this rock."

The majority of the group gave a small gasp, backing away a few feet. Kal'teek, however, simply turned and gestured over her shoulder. "Walk with me, Saiyan," she offered, walking away anyways.

Rek looked down at Cale, the younger brother already looking up. "It's okay, Rek. Really! I'll just play with the other kids," he offered as a few small aliens popped out of the crowd. Cale pushed off, drifting away into the air, and sped away with a laugh. The degree of control he was exhibiting was astounding, especially given that Cale's power level had only ever flashed above 50 once, and that was when he'd had a nightmare a few months before. How had Cale learned to fly, and do it so well, in only three days? If not for Rek and Cale both not having been harmed, on the contrary Cale appeared to be fine and Rek was recovered from both the crash and his near fatal march, he would already be slaying these aliens. Instead he caught up to Kal'teek, walking next to the alien.

Kal'teek took a deep breath, looking straight ahead as she spoke. "You and Cale have been through a lot," she said, clicking her tongue. "I'm surprised you're still with us, actually. By all rights you should have died not long after you collapsed in the desert."

Rek walked alongside her, casting a glance towards the female. "If you have a point, I would seriously consider making it soon," he warned. "I appreciate what you've done here, but I have no intentions of staying on this planet for long. Cale and I need to find the other Saiyans."

"There is only one place you can find Saiyans, and you wouldn't survive the trip there," she replied quickly, and Rek immediately stopped.

"What do you mean? How do you know so much about my race?" he asked, remembering the trip timer on his pod. Thirty years… impossible. He still appeared to be sixteen. "Out with it already!"

She turned, sighing. Kal'teek's shoulders heaved for a moment before she looked up the foot she had to in order to meet Rek's eyes. "You are filled with anger, Rek. You have lost your people, your family, and your life."

"Don't speak in riddles," Rek snapped, lashing his arm out. A kiai shot out, the rock he was pointing his palm at exploding. "Say what you mean, creature."

"Rek, we examined your ship," she began slowly. "That, and your memories, lead us to believe one thing. Not long after your planet was destroyed and your parents sent you away, the planet you were supposed to land on was destroyed. Probably part of Frieza's plan."

These things knew about Frieza as well? Something wasn't adding up here. "What does that have to do with my ship timer?" Rek demanded, taking a step forward. "Tell me where we are!"

Kal'teek didn't respond to his anger. "Your ship read that you both arrived on your destination because you went through the remains of the planet and kept going," she explained. "For thirty years, you and Cale have traveled through space locked in the mechanisms of your ships. You have both aged, but very little. A matter of days, at most a week. But while you have both been away, a lot has changed."

Rek listened, a growing horror in his stomach. His mind reeled and he was forced to take a step back, gripping at his head. "Wh… what do you mean? Thir… thirty years… that's impossible! We would have died!"

"A normal soldier would have died, but you and Cale are Saiyans," she reminded him. "You both remained healthy, if drained of nutrients, from the long sleep you were both in. Your bodies' inner workings were slowed considerably, allowing you both to survive until waking here on Yardrat."

What Kal'teek was suggesting was mind blowing. The thought that he and Cale had been asleep for three decades? It was madness. Even if they were Saiyans, how could they have… no…

His military mind kicked in. The ship timers were always accurate. The star map had shown his exact position, matching his velocity coming into the atmosphere so it was accurate as well. And if Frieza wanted to wipe out his race, he would have wiped out any of the other planets that the Saiyans might have been staying on. Their father had tried to save them, but with no other options had risked sending them to a planet that might not have been there. And, unfortunately, it hadn't been.

Rek fell to his knees, his stomach twisting. His hand raised to his mouth as he tried to calm his breathing, but the world swam in front of his eyes. He lurched forwards, vomiting bile as a result of not eating. Thirty years had passed… their people were long dead. Frieza had killed them all…

"Not all of them," came Kal'teek's voice, inside of his mind. Rek looked up, shakily, as the woman placed her hand on his forehead. "There is another world where the Saiyans have gathered. Your race is greatly diminished, but not dead." Immediately Rek's mind was flooded with images of a man named Goku, who had come to this planet years ago. In an instant he was made aware of what Goku had done to avenge their race, and of Frieza's demise. Kal'teek took her hand off just as he saw the man, more than that, the Saiyan Goku beginning some sort of a transformation and the memories stopped.

"Wait, what was that?" he demanded, jumping to his feet. "Goku… what was he doing? And how do I know his name?" Rek stared down at his hands, trying to figure out if he was dreaming or dead.

"That was telepathy," Kal'teek responded. "One of many talents that my race possesses. Talents that, if you and Cale remain here to grow, you may learn as well. As for Goku, do not worry over what you saw. You will find out in time, for now be happy that your race, that your parents, were avenged and that the Saiyans still live."

Rek looked around the area they were in, trying to think. Earth… that was what Goku had told the Yardratians. He was from Earth. "Where is it?" he asked, gripping Kal'teek's clothing. "Where is the Earth?"

In the next second, Rek was sent flying away and into another large boulder. His body impacted into it, the rock splitting through and falling away to either side as he dropped to the ground. "You will know more as you train," Kal'teek explained. "My people may be weak in the body, but not in the mind. I'm aware of your inability to sense power levels, and without such a basic ability you will never survive to find the Earth."

He groaned, picking himself up off the ground. It felt like he'd been punched in the chest, but more than that his mind was scrambled. It was similar to an attack he'd heard of from the planet Kanassa. Rek put his hand on the side of his head, above his temple, and stood to glare at the alien. "You will tell me or-" and then his body froze, the teenager falling over.

"Or you will calm yourself and I can release you from your parylization," she shot back, walking over and flipping the boy over onto his face. "Rek, you believe that you are extremely powerful. Aware of your own weakness to your race, but arrogant to all others. That is a fatal flaw."

As soon as he was flipped over he groaned, trying to force his arms to work to no avail. He couldn't even speak and settled for glaring up at Kal'teek.

"Yes, I can see it in your eyes," she said somberly. "You carry the arrogance of your people, a curse which both Cale and Goku are free from. When you have learned that you cannot survive on your pride alone, then you will be ready." She turned, walking away as Rek's body relaxed and he took in a gasping breath. "I will be waiting with your brother. Try to think about his life as well as your own."

As soon as he was to his feet he shot a glance towards Kal'teek, readying his next retort, but the alien put her fingers to her forehead and vanished. More than snap vanishing, it was like she simply moved somewhere else without taking a step. Rek was left in the middle of the village outskirts, staring at nothing but the rock he'd been thrown into.

Rek was a Saiyan Elite… he was among the strongest of the Saiyan's armies, but had been forced to flee his home under the might of Frieza's betrayal. From what Goku's memories, transferred through Kal'teek, told him even the Prince had been forced to serve Frieza. And this Goku had killed him somehow… exactly how he hadn't been shown, but this Goku was indeed powerful.

If Rek had fought Frieza, he would have simply been torn in half with a chop. This Goku… he'd stayed here for a number of years. Trained under the Yardratians and gotten stronger. Rek clenched his fist, looking down at it. "What about me?" he asked under his breath. "How much stronger can I become?"

He looked upwards, seeing the dark speck of Cale's hair flying amidst the purple, blue, and red heads of the Yardratian children. These people had taught Cale not only to manipulate his own energy, but to fly with it in under three days. His own mother and father had never even gotten him to form a simple ki blast. Was it something to do with the stress he had been put under? In order to fly, his power would have had to quadruple at least… maybe the result of their stasis?

In fact, Rek had almost died just finding this village. His own power must have grown substantially due to a zenkai, but that alien had simply thrown him into a boulder and locked him out of his own body's muscle control. Any of these Yardratians appeared as though a simple punch could easily kill them, but their mental powers were vast. Rek might believe in his own power, but he had Cale to watch out for. His commander wasn't here now, it was up to him to protect both himself and his younger brother.

Rek walked back into the village, heading for the center where Cale was playing in the air. He walked up behind Kal'teek, recognizing her by the pinkish tone on the fringe of her skull. "You'll be staying, then," she surmised, still watching Cale fly with the other children.

For a few seconds Rek only stood staring at her, trying to figure out whether she'd read his mind or simply known from his approach. "Yes. Please, help me with Cale," he asked, getting down on one knee and bowing his head. "I… I can't lose him," he pleaded, tears falling from his face. Somehow it felt safe to show his emotions here. "I'm nothing without him now."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up, blinking away the water clouding his eyes. "Of course, young one," Kal'teek assured him, bending down to her knee and meeting his gaze. "Raising a child is far too great a task for another child. You and Cale will stay with me, the village elder has already agreed. We will teach you our ways for as long as it takes."

He remained on the ground, breathing haggardly as he watched Cale fly around the air. The boy looked like he didn't have a care in the world. "As long as it takes for what?" he asked, finding Kal'teek's gaze again.

She only nodded and said, "As long as it takes you to find out how Goku killed Frieza. You and Cale share something that no one but yourselves may strip either of you from, a power that could surpass Frieza OR Goku's if given the time to grow. Your bond with each other will help you both to survive, but only if you realize that in order to protect him you must accept your own weaknesses." Kal'teek stood, offering her hand down.

Rek looked at the odd hand, two fingers and a thumb, and raised his own shakily. He could stand on his own but… but right now he wanted the help up. Rek took her hand, rising to his feet. "I understand," he said, his eyes locked onto Cale's as his brother smiled down at him from his flight. "Please, teach me how to protect him."


	6. Chapter 6 - Trials

The years passed quickly for Cale, but slowly for Rek. The younger of the two brothers had been simultaneously cursed and blessed. He had no memories of the events of their flight from Planet Vegeta, but he also couldn't remember more than fragments of their parents and even that was normally strenuous without the stories that Rek often told him. Rek, on the other hand, remembered everything. And that, too, was both a blessing and a curse.

While Rek could remember their parents and their death, the genocide of the Saiyan race entirely, it also gave him purpose. Where his focus used to be in getting stronger to prove himself among his peers and bring respect back for his family as an Elite soldier, he could now focus on protecting Cale. And, although he would never say it, he wanted to hunt down the remnants of Frieza's family; his father King Cold and brother Cooler. The brothers had no idea how much had changed during their suspended animation; that the entire Icejin family had been slain, but it kept Rek going.

Cale had the benefit of his youth's innocence. He had never learned to fight before leaving Vegeta, while Rek had already been well indoctrinated into the way of a Saiyan. For Cale, everything he learned was fresh and new while Rek, without really meaning to, found it a bit hard at first to accept their new way of life.

Their skills grew rapidly, however. Rek began training with the older children who, while he could beat in any test of strength, were far more powerful than him in both mental powers and ki based techniques. Cale, on the other hand, began his training with the rest of the children, his powers growing at a much higher rate than Rek believed they ever could. In a few short years Cale had learned how to harness his ki for a variety of uses.

While they both learned how to manipulate their bodies' energy into temporary weaponry or specified uses to a greater degree than Saiyans could teach, Cale appeared to adapt much better to the lessons. Without the teachings of a Saiyan upbringing he was free to take in the Yardratian cultures and fighting style. Rek tried on multiple occasions to teach Cale, but the boy never really fought as effectively in a Saiyan style as he could as a Yardratian and that trait was only bolstered when Cale began taking up a sword when Kal'teek learned of his natural affinity with a blade while observing him playing with the other children one day after their classes. The kids had been swatting at each other with sticks, and Cale had somehow managed to fend off three of the others at once.

The Yardratians, being physically weak but mentally and spiritually strong, had found ways to bolster their attacks through weaponry. There was a special ore which could be found on the planet that had a remarkable capacity to absorb, contain, and amplify energy. When smelted and crafted correctly it could make weaponry that retained those abilities, but after being purified amplified the traits. And the simplest way to do so was to make a rudimentary weapon. A spear, a dagger, some even went so far as to use the ore as the tips for arrows. But for Cale, they crafted a sword.

Without realizing it, Cale was taking after the brothers' mother. It was something that Rek was proud to see in the boy, but never something he pointed out as they both grew stronger. Rek's power surged higher along with Cale's, and as they both trained together and in their separate ways they broke through the thousands mark, the tens of thousands, and eventually into the hundreds of thousands although Cale could never quite keep up with Rek. While he showed a remarkable ability to increase his power under pressure, he seemed to reach ceilings at times where his power would stop growing while Rek's continued onwards at a normal rate. These gaps, however intermittent, were quickly closed the moment that Cale broke through his mental ceilings and pushed himself to his limits again.

The older he grew, the more Cale came into his own as a fighter. While skilled in hand to hand combat, he excelled with a blade to a higher degree than even his masters could keep up with and by the time he was fourteen had begun teaching the younger Yardratians the way of the blade while Rek continued learning from the elders, eventually having to go up against what few actual warriors the Yardratians had.

While the majority of their race was diminutive in stature, like any people they had a genetic line that supplied them with a small force of larger, stronger, fighters. While Rek at first had a hard time fighting against them, he quickly began to gain ground until they were the only dueling partners that he was on equal footing with, not realizing that those same warriors had been the ones who helped Goku master the Super Saiyan form when he'd been on Yardrat two decades previously. It was a sign that Rek's power was reaching his natural limit, although no one but the elders, along with Kal'teek, knew what that meant for the older brother's future.

As they'd grown stronger, the Yardratians had chosen to hide the existence of Super Saiyan from Rek and Cale. Even when they had asked how Goku managed to defeat Frieza and why he'd stayed on Yardrat those three years instead of leaving to find his family they never answered the entire truth. They wanted the boys to discover the transformation, their inner power, on their own or else their training would have been meaningless given how the transformation is initially made. If Rek and Cale knew from the beginning, they would have focused on their rage at losing their family to force their ascensions instead of focusing on getting stronger and believing that willpower and training was their only way to do so.

It was in this manner that the Reigo brothers, believing themselves to be the last of the Saiyans aside from Goku and his kin on the Planet Earth, grew and trained for over a decade on Yardrat. After a few years Rek was given the opportunity to participate in the Yardratian rite of passage to become considered an adult in the village, a rite which was kept secret until the day a boy took it, and now it was Cale's turn.

The young Saiyan couldn't help but wonder, looking up at the stars as he did, if there were any other Saiyans like him and Rek out there… survivors who, like Goku, were living on other planets as refugees. But now he wasn't sure whether or not "refugee" was the right word for it. If Frieza hadn't been killed by Goku he would surely have stamped out the lives of any Saiyans he came across who weren't under his rule in the galaxy, but without the threat of Frieza's wrath it didn't feel like they were hiding. It never had.

Maybe it was just that he'd grown up away from his own planet, that he and Rek had left under desperation watching their parents sacrifice their lives to buy them enough time, but both Cale and Rek had never quite decided whether to call Yardrat home or not. An extended training stay? Nothing seemed right to describe Yardrat for the two Saiyans. Cale had learned almost everything of how to fight from them, and Rek had incorporated their teachings into his own fighting style, but the differences between the Saiyans and the Yardratians kept them from fully accepting a life here. They just had nowhere else to go.

Cale looked ahead of him, his senses picking up on a coming energy he recognized as Rek, and scooted over on the boulder to allow his brother room to sit. The older Saiyan was quick to oblige, leaping up and twisting in midair to land already in a seated position.

"Another late night thinking?" the older asked the younger, peering over at Cale.

"Yeah…" Cale responded, almost dreamily. "We've been here for twelve years, Rek. I'm the same age now that you were when we first arrived and my seventeenth birthday is only a month away. We've been here so long the only ones that can fight us physically are what few warriors the Yardratians have raised, but we've never left. Why is that?"

Cale turned to Rek, giving him a confused look. The older brother sighed, crossing his arms and looking upwards. "You're right, we've been here for a long time. But where else could we go?" he asked, nodding upwards. "You look at the stars all the time, but you've never been out there. Not like I have. You haven't seen what I have."

Rek, in his youth, had been every bit the ruthless Saiyan that he was supposed to be. Ruthless, and powerful, enough to be offered a place among the Elite even though he was born into a low class family, the son of a scientist, but helping to raise Cale had tempered the Saiyan's once fiery urge to slaughter. "Sure we'd be stronger than quite a lot of races who might try to stop us from surviving," he went on, keeping his gaze locked upwards. "But what happens if we can't? According to Kal'teek, we still haven't gotten as strong as Goku was when he defeated Frieza. We're still missing something."

Cale looked sidelong at his brother before looking up as well, resuming his pensive contemplation of the stars. "So what would happen if we met someone like Frieza?" he asked, going with Rek's train of thought. "We would just... die?"

After a moment, Rek nodded. "Cale you're smart, a hell of a lot smarter than I was at your age, so why are you only asking me this now?" The two had discussed their parents, the Saiyan biology, all manner of topics that they couldn't discuss with Kal'teek as she helped the boys to grow, but Cale had never once questioned why they stayed.

"I don't know, brother," he returned, shrugging. "I guess… I was just okay living wherever we had to. We just never needed another place but… but I want to know what's out there."

"What's out there, or who's out there?" Rek asked, returning his eyes to Cale. "You want to know if there are any others."

Cale thought for a moment, looking down at his tail where it laid on the rock beside him. "You always tell me how strong the Saiyans were. How much we could survive," he said. "You never even let me look at a full moon because of what would happen. And even with all of these things making the Saiyans as strong as we are, how could so many of us have been wiped out?"

"Frieza was very thorough, Cale," Rek answered, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes. He'd asked himself that same question plenty of times, and the more he thought about it the more he realized how smart Frieza was. He wouldn't have made it easy. "It's likely that Frieza had most of us scheduled to be on Planet Vegeta before he destroyed it, and the fact that we never landed on our target planet shows that he had agents waiting to destroy any other refuges that the Saiyans might have had. He wiped out any places that would take us in, and probably a few planets that he found us on."

"I remember father whispering to mother that a Saiyan named Bardock, an old family friend, had found my dad that day," he remembered, leaning back and cracking his neck. "Damn bed… getting old. Sorry. He'd told my father that Frieza had sent men to kill his team. The only reason Bardock hadn't died with them was that he wasn't sent out with his team that day, he ended up leaving late after recovering from some weird affliction he'd gotten on his previous mission. Frieza wanted to make sure that as many of us were wiped out as he could. The bastard even killed the king and probably the prince as well. If there are any Saiyans out there, they're as lost as we are."

Cale listened as his brother spoke, taking in Rek's analysis. "So why don't we find them, then?" he asked, clenching a fist. "I mean, we're much stronger now than any other Saiyan has been except for Goku and possibly his son. And even if we met someone like Frieza we can both use Instant Transmission now. We could easily get away."

Rek chuckled, punching Cale in the shoulder. The boy was pushed over a few inches and gripped his shoulder. "We can leave when that doesn't hurt you," Rek replied slyly. "But tomorrow, you have an appointment with the Elders. I'm surprised you haven't been compulsively cleaning Edge all night."

Edge, the blade that Cale had been given when he'd mastered how to fight with a sword, was an artifact that Cale kept in perfect condition. The blade was strong enough to cut through most anything without chipping or breaking and when augmented with ki could literally cut through anything so long as it's power didn't exceed Cale's own by a large factor. "No, I already cleaned Edge about twenty times today. If the hilt gets any shinier it's likely to blind me during my test," he joked lightly, elbowing Rek in the ribs. "Come on, brother. What's the rite? You can't tell me even now?"

Rek smiled, shaking his head with a toothy grin. "You know I can't, little brother," he teased. "If you know what it is, you know what to prepare for. And we both know the Yardratian's teachings. 'Live for the best, but-'"

"'—but prepare for the worst'," Cale finished, shaking his head and looking down. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

Rek reached over and ruffled Cale's hair. "You know everything, don't you genius boy?" Rek teased a bit more, laughing as Cale fumed. "Picked up on father's genes rather well."

Cale sighed, clearing his throat. He spoke, his voice changing. "That boy is a bit too smart for his own good," he said in a flawless impersonation of Kal'teek's rather high and scratchy voice. "I don't even want to probe his mind any longer for fear he'll probe back some day." He finished with a grin.

"Oh, so you overheard that, huh?" Rek inquired with an arched brow. "I guess you're also a good bit sneakier than I am. I wonder how many times you've tricked me with that now…"

Cale had long ago found out about a rather interesting ability to mimic those around him both in mannerisms and voice. It was a neat trick for the children, but he'd been caught on more than one occasion trying to use it for less than joking goals. "Oh, most any time 'Kal'teek' wanted you to clean out the raknark sties but you could only hear her voice from the kitchen."

Rek's face blanched in a combination of anger and disgust. "YOU put me up to that?" he asked, standing up and raising a fist. "You mean I let you talk me into cleaning out those rat snake mongrel's disgusting… rank… odorous… oh….." he almost seemed to swoon just from the memory of the smell. "Oh kami…" he sat back down, his hand over his mouth. "You traitorous little drip…"

Cale laughed, standing up. "I think I should be getting to bed now. Big day tomorrow after all," he grinned, drifting into the air slowly. "I'll… ah, just leave you to your memories, then," he said with a smirk and a grin, waving as he blasted off towards home to leave Rek to his gagging.

The next day dawned quickly and Cale was up not long after sunrise even after his late night. Rek was soon to follow as Cale roused. The smell of cooking meat already filled the small house as Cale made his way towards the main living area of Kal'teek's, and their adoptive, home.

The aged Yardratian peeked her head out from behind a curtain. "Cale, Rek, you two are awake!" she said, her small mouth immediately turning upwards in a smile. "Come, come, sit! This is the biggest day of your life, Cale, You have to eat up."

Rek kneeled next to the low table, eying the food that Kal'teek set down with a certain degree of disgust. From what Cale heard, Rek had spent a large portion of the night before vomiting, something that brought a bit of a chuckle to him now. The older Saiyan picked up on the younger's laugh and gave him a rough punch, which Cale went to retaliate against before Kal'teek's voice came in from the kitchen.

"You two punch one hole in my wall, and I'll have you BOTH cleaning the stalls for a week!"

The brothers immediately stopped, focusing on the food that was being brought out in plates and bowls. It was actually a rather coincidental trait that both Yardratians and Saiyans shared increased metabolisms. The Reigo brothers, while they had needed to adapt to the rather different food, had never been part of a meal that left them unsatisfied in the years they'd been on Yardrat. Kal'teek was quick to sit and join them as she, too, began tearing into her food albeit with a bit more finesse than the Saiyans used.

"So what is it that I have to do for the ceremony?" Cale asked, his mouth still partially full.

Kal'teek swallowed her bite before glaring at him. "Don't talk with your mouth full, Cale. And you know none of us are allowed to tell you what your task will be until the time comes. Just be prepared for anything."

Cale sighed, his eyebrows knitting. He glanced over at Rek with a nonverbal message asking to be let in on the secret, but Kal'teek was quick to pick up on it. "And don't you go giving him any hints, Rek."

The eldest brother laughed, shrugging. "I wasn't planning to. I think it'll be fun to watch Mr. Know-it-all over here actually be clueless for once. I must say, he wears it well."

The younger Saiyan growled under his breath, focusing intently on his food. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, the foreboding air around Cale contagiously spreading to Kal'teek and Rek. The boy was deep in his thoughts, deep enough that not even Rek could figure out just what was going through his head.

He stood suddenly, downing the last of his food, and walked towards his room to change. "I have to get ready, and I think I saw a mark on Edge that I must have missed last night," he muttered, walking through the cloth door.

As soon as he was gone, Rek looked over at Kal'teek and mentally reached out for her. "You know he's worried about failing, Kal'teek," his mind spoke to hers.

She responded in the same manner. "Of course, you were when you took your test. We've all been worried when the time came to prove what we could contribute to the clan."

"Yes, but Cale's always been hard on himself when he even comes close to failure, and he's already been having problems training recently," he argued, calmly taking a drink.

"The boy will be fine," Kal'teek reassured him. "He may have his occasional hiccups, but it's nothing he can't get past. Maybe this will prove to him that he's stronger than he believes."

Rek looked towards the door to their shared room. He picked up on the faint sound of Edge being unsheathed, the metal scraping lightly against the hardened and reinforced hide of its case, and realized Cale had been lying about the mark. No way could he have missed a mark only to realize it today, he'd just needed to be alone.

The elder Saiyan stood, shaking his head. He tightened his tunic before turning for the entrance to their hut. "I'll go make sure everything is ready," he said, walking out to check on the preparations. Rek had been allowed to play a major role in determining Cale's trial, and wanted to make sure one last time that everything was in place.

When midday arrived, the village gathered in the central area around the elders, who waited for Cale to arrive, walking to them through the ringed crowd, and kneel. "I have come to prove my worth for the clan," he recited, bowing his head.

The elder looked down at him, placing a hand on his shoulder and lifting his eyes to the crowd. "Cale Reigo, son of Solara Reigo, and survivor of his planet's destruction, came to us with his brother twelve long years ago. And for those twelve years he has trained in our ways, lived among us, and is now of the age to prove that what he has learned is worthy of the village. But should he fail, he must be banished from the clan and sent into the wastelands. There are no second chances, there will be no redemption. Are you prepared to face this test, Cale?"

Cale gulped, nodding, and gripped his knee a bit tighter with his right hand while his left ground into the dust a bit harder. "I am prepared for the worst, and accept my fate should I fail."

The elder shut his eyes for a moment, contacting someone far away. "The arena is prepared. Everyone, join hands. His first test will be to move the entire village to the site of his trial."

There was a murmur amongst the crowd as they all hesitated to grasp each other's hands but couldn't disobey. No one before this had ever been tasked with moving the village on their own, it was usually only the elder who traveled alongside the trial's recipient. Cale looked up at the elder surprised, but nodded after a moment, lowering his head again as the village brought their hands together.

Rek looked on, worried about the mental strain it would put on Cale as he gripped Kal'teek's hand. This had been one of his ideas. Moving so many people at once would require the utmost concentration on Cale's part, and while he had always been able to focus on multiple things at once the one thing he had always failed at was letting all of his power out, and it would take quite a bit of it to move everyone in the village. If Cale failed, Rek would blame himself leave the village alongside his brother even though it would mean his banishment as well.

The location of the trial was revealed to Cale through the elder's touch, and he focused on the Yardratians he could sense in the area. With the village physically connected he could let his power flow through them all if they allowed him to do so, and they did. Before long each member of the village was permeated with Saiyan energy, Rek doing his best to keep his energy out of the mix as well.

Cale kept his energy flow constant through the village members with a piece of his mind while the rest of his attention went to the arena. He would have to send a small piece of his own energy from every physical body he was connected to forwards ahead of them, and then bring them all back together without mixing the destinations or the results would be horrific. With the village entirely linked, a single mistake could smash their bodies together in transit, killing them all in a bloody heap of partially integrated bodies.

His knuckles dug deeper into the ground, a bead of sweat dripping down his brow as his teeth grit together in his mouth, his jaw locked in place. The silence went on long enough that Rek couldn't resist opening his eyes to view Cale's shaking form. He began to worry that Cale was about to fail entirely before he could even begin. His mind reached out for his brother's. "Calm down, Cale. You're not going to kill us."

Even his inner voice was strained when Cale replied. "Hrggh… you don't know that… this has to be perfect."

"Yes it does, and it won't be if you're worrying like this," he instructed, closing his eyes again. "Just do it. You're the best at this."

Cale took in Rek's words, his lips parting a bit as he let out a slow breath through his teeth. "Ng… yeah…" He slowed his frantic mind, the energy moving through his body as well as the villagers' calmed as he centered his mind. A faint silver aura surrounded him, spreading to the villagers. Kal'teek and Rek shared a grin just before the entire crowd flickered from view, entering the multicolored world between dimensions for a fraction of a second before they reappeared in the middle of a large opening ringed around by a wall of natural stone, forming a bowl.

The younger brother opened his eyes, letting out a gasp as he released his hold on the village members, catching himself as he became dizzy and fell forwards out of his kneel, the elder removing his hand from the young Saiyan. "Very impressive, Cale," he intoned, lifting his voice up for the villagers. "Everyone, to the cliffs. Cale must face his true trial now."

As one, the villagers lifted into the air and dispersed to the edges of the arena, taking seats all around the rock precipices to watch. The elder lifted into the air as two warrior class Yardratians carried in a large, two handed, ornate great sword. They stuck it into the ground, it was heavy enough to sink in almost of its own accord, and stood in front of it facing Cale. The Saiyan looked at them both, confused. His eyes shifted between them both as the elder spoke again.

"Cale has, many times over, proven himself a true master of the blade," the wizened Yardratian began, gesturing to the spectators as he spun slowly above the center of the arena. "He has an honorary position instructing the younger members of the village in spite of his own lack of years or position among the village's elder group. But today we test him in battle to decide whether or not his skills as a swordsman are enough for him to remain among us. Should he prove only that his teachings have been wasted, we will turn our backs on him and leave immediately."

Kal'teek looked downwards towards Cale, worry etched in her features. After raising him, with Rek's help, from his childhood the thought of losing him to this trial, either by death or banishment, was causing her heart to beat faster. Rek reached over, placing his hand on her shoulder supportively and meeting her gaze. "He'll be alright. He has to be."

"He has made it clear that among his peers Cale is unequaled with bladed combat, so his test shall be against an opponent many times stronger than any he has ever faced. For his test, he faces a fused warrior," he explained, and a few members of the village began to match Kal'teek's worried visage. Cale's own students looked at one another from where they sat around the wide arena walls while those who had bonded with the brothers during their stay looked to Kal'teek herself. "His test begins when the blade we've crafted for his opponent leaves the ground. However, he must also prove that he can resist his Saiyan ancestry and show restraint. He is forbidden from dismembering or killing his opponent, he may only claim victory when his enemy is disarmed and subdued."

The two warrior Yardratians waited for the signal from the elder. It came in the form of a simple, multicolored blast of ki into the air as the elder rose higher into the air and took his place among the villagers to watch. Cale slid into his stance, drawing Edge preemptively while the Yardratians flowed through the forms of the fusion dance, their fingertips touching and their bodies melding together before, in a flash of light and aura, the fused warrior standing tall as he exercised his power, sending a gust of wind at Cale with just a glance. Although he had not grown during the fusion, Cale couldn't help but feel that his opponent had just gotten much larger.

Even though the individual warriors had needed to work together just to carry the oversized greatsword, the fused warrior reached back with a single hand, staring down at Cale while he grasped the handle and lifted the blade out of the air with a wide swing, sending another burst of power at the young Saiyan who stood his ground, igniting his aura as his eyes bored back into the fused swordsman's.

His trial had begun.


	7. Chapter 7 - Celebrations Gone Awry

The metal of the greatsword made a horrid screeching sound as it was drawn from the ground, and the mighty swing from the fused Yardratian warrior sent a roaring wind against Cale while his opponent took a step forwards into his stance. The fused warrior was taller than he was by about a foot and a half, and much bulkier than the normal Yardratians. However, Cale knew better. The fusion had created a fighter with the combined knowledge and skills of the separate halves, and with many times over their combined power.

For a moment, all he could do was curse the shared ancestry between Metamorans and Yardratians that gifted this race the ability to fuse as the Metamorans could, although that race was long dead now. He didn't have much time to think before the fight truly began, the other fighter raising his immense blade and charging directly at Cale with a roar. Cale sidestepped it cleanly, but the roaring wind from the blow caught him even as the sword was embedded momentarily in the ground again, and sent him flying away.

An earsplitting crack was heard as Cale's body smashed against the wall of the box canyon, bits of rock chipping outwards as a large crack spread up the wall. Cale's back had been lodged into the wall, and although the impact had hurt it wasn't anything that could hold him back. Gathering his energy, Cale let out a scream and cleared his body from the wall with a kiai, using the energy from it to propel himself at breakneck speed back towards his enemy. Cale spun, Edge singing through the air as he whipped it across at the fighter.

The deafening crash rang out all through the canyon as blade met blade, the two fighters pushing against one another. But Cale was losing ground, and got flung back by the powerful push of the Yardratian warrior. The alien followed up with a quick, but massive, ki blast that overtook Cale's body and exploded against him, once more sending him flying, although downwards now. Edge stuck into the ground, hilt up, as Cale tumbled end over end on the rocks and dirt, finally slowing amidst a pile of pushed up earth around his body. He barely had time to stand before his opponent was back on top of him.

The elbow from his enemy came down almost as if it had been dropping from the sky, and it took every bit of Cale's reflexes to catch it with both hands, groaning as the Yardratian continued applying pressure, trying to force him to the ground. It was all Cale could do to hold his ground now, his silver aura igniting again as he dug deeper, for more power. His teeth grit, Cale's boots sunk a bit farther into the ground as the energy emitting from the two fighters created a heat mirage around them, their wavering auras combining above them.

"I'm not…. Gonna give up… THAT EASY!" Cale roared, a burst of power surfacing as he set his stance and shoved the elbow back upwards, seizing his opportunity to drop low and sweep kick the fused fighter's legs out from beneath him. He took off towards Edge as the Yardratian corrected himself and dashed after Cale, but couldn't stop the Saiyan in time. Leaping over his sword, Cale balanced his palm on the hilt and swing his legs around in a wide arc, smacking his heel against the Yardratian's cheek as the alien came nearer, sending his hulking form through the air away from Cale.

This was his chance, and he had no time to waste. Cale continued his spinning momentum, pivoting off of center and wrapping his hand around Edge's hilt as he twisted off of the blade, yanking it out of the ground and landing on his feet. There was a brief pause as he gathered his energy before he shot forwards again, rocks kicking up in his wake as he rocketed towards the Yardratian.

Cale vanished from view for a moment, using instant transmission without the need to use his fingers to focus energy due to the short distance, and appeared just above the still flailing body of the other fighter. Growling, Cale barrel rolled and used the flat side of Edge as a bat, smashing the Yardratian in the stomach to send it flying down towards the ground. Its body was masked in the resulting dust cloud, wide cracks appearing from the center point of where it had hit the ground.

The young Saiyan warrior raised his hands, gathering energy. Silver ki coursed up his arms to his palms, his aura blazing brighter just before he knelt over, his hands disappearing in a blur of movement and energy as countless ki blasts streaked downwards, expanding the dust cloud considerably in a mix of dispersing silver ki and yet more airborne rubble. When the bottom of the box canyon was filled with smoke Cale stopped, panting slightly, and narrowed his eyes searching the smoke.

Something wasn't right. There should be some sign of movement down there with a body that large. A slight swirl in the smoke, the faintest outline of a shape. But there was nothing. Not even an energy signal. But there was no chance Cale had used enough energy to kill a fused warrior just now, so where…

His eyes widened as he felt the tiny prick of energy that leaked above him from the warrior charging his blade. Before Cale even had time to turn to face the threat, the sword swung through empty air, but from the tip of the blade shot forth an incandescent line of razor edged ki, compressed and focused through the blade. The line quickly extended to almost twenty feet long as it flew down towards Cale, turning just in time to see it coming.

Cale quickly adjusted for the angle of the razor ki and swung Edge at an equal angle, shooting his own line of razor ki back at the attacking energy. The two met in midair above the canyon and a bright mix of energies exploded outwards, the two fighters vanishing into a blurred mix of fist, blast, fire, and rubble. Pinpricks of light could be seen where their fists met, sparks raining down where their blades clashed, and balls of colored fire appearing where their blasts clashed against each other.

There was a roaring whoosh back down to the stadium, a wind tearing at the sides of the canyon and rushing up the walls, blowing some of the smaller children up into the air. Seeing the possible threat, the older Yardratians lifted off as well, hovering a bit higher in the air as the fight continued, Cale and the fused fighter finally becoming visible again in the center of the arena. Their blades were locked against each other, the fused Yardratian pushing down on Cale, the Saiyan bent back at an awkward angle, one hand gripping Edge's hilt and the other pushing against the flat of his blade to try and keep standing.

Cracks began to form again, the feet of the two fighters sinking into the ground amidst the jutting rocks, their combined energies wreaking havoc on the arena as the earth lifted around them. Cale could feel his limits knocking at him. This was more than he could take, and sweat was already pouring down his face and arms. He needed an opening to finish this, or else he would soon be finished himself.

The cracks reached from one wall to another as the two sunk into a crater formed of their energies' force against the ground. As the two fell into the crater, the pressure against Cale was momentarily lifted, and it was just enough for him to retaliate. He wouldn't get another chance like this.

The Saiyan swung his sword, twisting his wrist so that the Yardratian's greatsword was flung upwards, and yanked on the fighter's arm to pull him in closer. Cale lined his palms with ki, letting Edge fall from his grasp, and began a lightning fast barrage of strikes against the Yardratian's joints. First his elbows and knees bent the wrong way, and then his shoulders seemed to shift back as they popped out of place, his legs separating slightly as his hip joints were dislocated. Cale's last blow was a powerful double palm strike to the fused fighter's abdomen, a bright silver light issuing out where his hands struck, the Yardratian flying out of the explosion and smashing through the wall of the arena, landing outside of the box canyon unconscious.

Cale landed in the crater, falling to his knees and panting. Sweat fell from his brow to the ground, and his chest heaved drastically as his body tried to get oxygen to his muscles. He stood shakily, pulling Edge up out of the ground, and raised his sword with a wide smile in spite of the blood dripping from his chin and out of the wound on his side. A momentous cheer rose from the crowd above, Kal'teek clapping faster than anyone as Rek zoomed down to the ground, catching Cale in an embrace before the young Saiyan completely lost his footing.

"Haha! How's it feel to be a man, Cale?" he asked, helping his brother to keep standing.

Cale coughed up a bit of blood and grinned up at Rek, his eyes half lidded. "It feels tiring, and it tastes like blood."

"Aye, that's about right," Rek joked, lifting Cale's arm in the air amidst another cheer, the rest of the village descending around the Saiyan brothers. Rek stepped away as the elder came through the crowd, a genuine smile on his beaklike lips.

"Congratulations, young Cale Reigo," he said, raising his arms as he embraced Cale as well. "You have proven your worth as a warrior, and your skills are sufficient to earn you a place among the village, and in the council!"

Another cheer went up, Kal'teek running out of the crowd and latching onto Cale's waist, her head barely reaching his chest. "I'm so proud of you, Cale! You're a man now, you'll have all the females knocking our house in."

Cale grimaced, looking over at Rek. The elder brother only grimaced lightly back as Cale's students sprang out of the crowd, tackling him as one and knocking him to the ground as the fused fighter reentered the arena through the wall his body had gone through with some help from a few more villagers, nodding to Cale and dropping his greatsword as the fusion ended, the two warriors separating and leaning on their aides more heavily.

"Come, Cale!" the elder offered, spinning to face the crowd. "A feast will be prepared in honor of Cale's victory, and tonight we shall eat hearti-"

The elder's words were cut off by a tremendous rumbling from beneath their feet, the villagers and Saiyans looking down shocked. Cale and Rek looked to each other, and then Rek's voice rose over the rumbling of the earth. "Everyone in the air, NOW!" The two Saiyans rose into the air along with the entire village, the children shrieking in fear as the cracks in the ground deepened and widened, the ground bursting upwards for a moment in a display of hidden power before it fell in on itself, the cracks widening into a massive crater as an animal roar came from the ground, a rush of wind and energy blowing the villagers all higher into the air.

Another shriek emitted from the widening hole in the ground, and a colossal pale tentacle emerged from beneath the lifting earth, lashing upwards. The older Yardratians began shepherding the children away, and Rek turned to Cale. "You have to leave, Cale," he said, shoving Cale back and drifting forwards in the air, his fists clenching as he watched the scene below.

"Not a chance!" Cale said, moving forwards alongside Rek as Kal'teek and the elder flew up to them. "I don't care how tired I am, I'm a warrior now."

Rek smiled for a moment, but it quickly faded. "You're every bit as headstrong as father was, but I'm not always gonna be able to save your ass, Cale," he said, his dark eyes narrowing at the same time as Cale's did downwards.

"You don't need to anymore, I'm a man now!" the younger brother shot back, pulling Edge from its sheathe. "Kal'teek, what is that thing?"

The two Yardratians hovered closer, Kal'teek shaking her head. "A creature that only emerges once every hundred years to feed and produce an egg," she responded. "It does not even have a name, we fear it far too much."

Rek glanced over at her worried face and grit his teeth harder. "Kal'teek, you have to go. The children are going to need you to help calm them down. Cale, the other warriors, and I can handle this." Sure enough, the Yardratian warriors had already sprung into action, holding the tentacles of the emerging beast back from the villagers who were still fleeing the area. Some of the adults were taking the elderly and the young back to the village via instant transmission. Kal'teek gave another worried glance to Cale's battered form before nodding, zooming off to grab a few children and vanish from view.

The head of the creature was now breaking through the surface, a gaping maw filled with lines of razor sharp teeth gnashed at the air, and it roared as its tentacles lashed back and forth, sending the warriors holding them at bay flying off. Slowly, the thing pulled its body out, long and lithe, supporting the head and multitude of eyes strewn about its skull.

"If that thing's only supposed to wake up every hundred years, why is it coming out now, and why here?" Cale asked, gripping Edge with both hands.

The elder's face looked grim. "Your fight must have woken the creature up and drawn it to the surface."

Rek scoffed, shaking his head. "Marvelous," he grinned, his eyes taking a darker tone. "We don't have to hold back against this thing." He looked over to Cale once before diving down, letting out a harsh battle cry as he launched a ki blast directly at one of the eyes. The blast rocked the beast over onto its side, the eye closing while blood leaked out from the lid.

"Elder, let us," Cale said, looking back. "The village is going to need you as well. Rek is right, we can handle this."

The elder opened his mouth to say something but stopped, nodding. "Y-yes… I suppose you're right," he said, drifting away slightly. He turned to fly away but looked back, his eyes widening. "Cale, behind you!"

Cale turned, letting out a grunt as he was smashed by one of the tentacles whipping through the air, wider than his body. "Elder! Leave!" he grunted, pushing back against the massive tentacle with the flat of Edge's blade. He let out a kiai, forcing the thing back to let him fly forwards and cleave it apart, his sword slicing clean through the flesh and bone to let the elder fly away safely.

So this was it, his first real fight. Life and death. Cale sized up the scene below, the Yardratian warriors flying to and fro between the tentacles, Rek trying to take out as many eyes as he could. After Rek burst another with a well-placed kick, the creature let out another roar, sending all of the fighters around it back. What had at first appeared to be a long, thick, snakelike body now split apart into more tentacles, the creature lifting itself up higher and lashing out with more arms than it had previously.

Cale flew down to Rek, blasting the tips of the limbs that reached for him away as he went. "Rek, what's the plan?"

Rek caught one of the tentacles against his hand, punching it away with a grunt. "It has no blind spots, and even if it did we can't stay close for long with those tentacles everywhere," the older, battle hardened Reigo analyzed. "I doubt this thing is going to get tired anytime soon, but we should consider ourselves lucky it was still developing down there or else we'd really have a problem."

"So in other words, just hurt it?" Cale asked, sending a razor wave out to slice through two more tentacles.

Rek nodded. "A lot." The brothers split apart, supporting the Yardratian warriors as best they could while simultaneously dodging the multitude of limbs lashing at them, trying to probe the wriggling mass for any sort of a weakness, any gap in defenses. But as the minutes passed, the brothers could find no ground to take as the creature continued moving onwards, and unfortunately directly towards the village.

"It can sense energy!" Cale realized, looking off in the distance. "This thing is moving towards the largest collection of energy it can find."

Rek looked over towards Cale. "And we just told everyone to head back home… dammit! Alright everyone, take its eyes out as fast as you can, and then mask your power quickly!"

The warriors flying around the beast like a hive of bees stopped, nodding up at the Saiyans, and resumed their attacks, although now their strikes and blasts were focused more on its eyes than before. One by one the eyes were forced to close, some bleeding while others were completely vaporized.

Rek spread his arms left and right, red energy gathering above his upturned palms until two red orbs hummed to life, glowing brighter as he poured more energy into them. "Vanquish Cannon!" he shouted, launching them both downwards one after the other. The two attacks spiraled down towards the creature's body, impacting against it. Dual hemispheres of crimson red exploded against the sides of the beast, tentacles being forced from the body as another area of eyes closed on its head before it fell over, shrieking.

Meanwhile, Cale was going in close. Weaving between the tentacles and transmitting out of harm's way, the younger brother was appearing all around the creature. Each time he came into view another tentacle was lopped off, another gash appeared on an eye to force it to close. Until, finally, all of the beasts' eyes were shut, the village just visible on the horizon.

As one, all of the fighters dropped to the ground and hid their powers, the creature stopping suddenly partially out of fear. Blind and no longer able to sense the small things that had been paining it, the head whipped back and forth, tentacles lashing out blindly. The warriors were forced to dodge on the ground, rolling and flipping out of the way of the blind onslaught.

Cale leapt out of the way of one of them, calling out to Rek. "We have to figure something out, it's getting to close to the village!"

Rek turned to call back, but was silenced when the words caught in his throat. The beast had heard Cale's voice and a tentacle was already coming down to crush him. "CALE, DODGE!" he shouted, running forwards.

The younger brother turned his face upwards, only to be smashed below the monstrous tentacle, flat against the ground. Another three smacked Rek away before pushing him down, holding him while the other warriors were batted away like flies when their powers jumped seeing Cale's already damaged body buried beneath the limb. Rek watched as the limb covering Cale slid back, the tip of it grasping his ankle and lifting his bloody body up slowly, Edge falling out of his unconscious grasp.

Rek struggled against the tentacles holding his limbs down, calling out to Cale. But the younger of the two didn't wake up, merely continuing to be lifted upwards into the air by the creature. It didn't take long for his body to hover over the beast's head, and sure enough it opened its cavernous maw, lowering Cale's form down towards the layers of teeth.

"Cale! CALE!" he screamed, trying to push the limbs back to no avail. Spittle flew from his mouth as he called again, Cale going lower as he was forced to watch, the other warriors likewise pinned down. Tears began to stream down Rek's face, cutting through the blood and dirt and falling to the ground heated with rage and desperation.

The ground around Rek began to rumble and shake, the creature stopping lowering Cale for a moment as it felt Rek's power surge higher. "CAAAAAAAALE!" he thundered, his crimson aura appearing around his body like a fire as the tentacles holding him were pushed back by an invisible wall of energy. The ground fell into itself, a crater forming beneath Rek as he floated upwards slightly, still screaming while his eyes went white, his pupils vanishing.

And then, all at once, he exploded. His hair became a vibrant gold, his body pulsating with brilliant energy that lit the area around him while his scream lessened, his head falling forwards while he took in another breath. Rek opened his eyes slowly, the aqua pupils reappearing in them, and looked up at Cale. A moment later he was next to his brother, and sent a kick out at the tentacle holding his ankle, his foot passing clean through the limb. Cale didn't even begin to fall before Rek had hold of him, transmitting down to the ground and laying Cale out carefully.

"Try to kill the children…" the Super Saiyan said, narrowing his glowing eyes at the beast. "Try to destroy the village… TRY TO KILL MY BROTHER!" Rek flew forwards, sending a punch against the main body of the creature. It flew upwards into the air shrieking in pain, and Rek caught one of the tentacles, spinning around and flipping it clean overhead, down towards the ground. It crashed into the earth, rocks flying upwards while Rek dove down through them, delivering another punch that forced it farther down into the rocks and dirt.

Rek jumped out of the crater, waiting by the side until the tentacles began latching onto the edge, pulling it out. He spread his arms, beginning to gather energy slowly, and watched while it reared its head over the edge containing it, pulling its hulking form up out of the earth. The thing leaned back, taking in a breath before it roared at Rek, the wind blowing the surrounding earth clean of any brush.

The eldest Reigo didn't respond to the threat, his icy eyes only staring into the mouth that was open before him, seeing the raw, unprotected flesh of its throat. "VANQUISH BLASTER!" he roared, placing his hands together in front of him, fingers splayed, as a crimson beam of energy issued from his palms, widening to almost five feet wide and spearing the creature through its throat, bursting out of the back of its head. The thing's limbs shriveled up for a moment before they all began flailing wildly, the warriors flying out of the way as soon as the tentacles had released them, while picked up Cale's body and Edge.

The beast's blood was quickly spilling out of its head and mouth, but it gave one last attempt at Rek's life. As many tentacles as it had still intact shot towards Rek, but the elder brother only spun on the spot and lashed his arm across, sending a massive wave of ki out from his brother's sword. The unfocused blast forced the tentacles back, the creature falling onto the ground and dying amidst a gurgle of blood and escaping air, its last breath having been the one it took just before roaring at Rek.

The Super Saiyan lifted off into the air, flying quickly towards the village and setting down in the square, beating the other warriors by a long shot. A crowd gathered around the brothers as Rek set Cale down, Kal'teek running forwards with a vial of medicinal salve and quickly beginning to apply it to Cale's wounds. "Rek… You've done it!" she said, looking up at him while she worked.

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking down at his hands. Shocked, he took in a quick breath when he saw the glow around his body, in awe of what was going on. "This power…" He looked towards the elder as the Yardratian pushed his way through the crowd. "This is how Goku defeated Frieza! This is what you never let us see!"

The elder looked to Kal'teek for a moment and then back up to Rek. "Yes, Rek. Like Goku, you are a Super Saiyan."


	8. Chapter 8 - Parting Ways

[Before I continue the story of the Reigo brothers, I have to apologize to everyone who's been following along so far. I've recently gone through a rather rough patch culminating in a move to a new city, but it's been a long time coming and now that my life is finally in order again, I've been able to get back to work on A Lost Heritage. I hope that you will all continue to stick with me on this, and spread the word about the story because here in the next chapter it will begin to overlap with The Exiled Prince, another story on the site written by my partner princebejitasama, that while it focuses more on Vegeta primarily, also goes over Cale's adventures on Earth.

I can't go too far into it, but if you want to read ahead from my story, take a look at The Exiled Prince to see how Cale begins growing later. I will be rewriting some of his chapters more from Cale's perspective, and eventually our two separate stories become very much the same and he and I will be partnering on a single fic. I know we could really use all of the support you guys can give, but for now here's the next chapter of A Lost Heritage.]

The Reigo brothers had finally been told the truth that had been hidden from them for over a decade. When Cale recovered from his state of near death, both Rek and Cale were brought to the village elders to have the full truth professed to them, that the reason they had been training so hard was to grow powerful enough to achieve Super Saiyan as Goku had before them. But while the brothers listened, it was clear that Cale didn't quite understand.

After listening to the small history lesson, a chapter of Goku's battle against Frieza and subsequent arrival they had been kept from, Cale could help but clench his fist, gritting his teeth. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" he asked, shaking his head. "If we had known what you were training us for, we could have worked that much harder to reach it!"

Rek, who was the only one of the two brothers who could remember life beyond the border of Yardrat's atmosphere, was silent as Cale almost raged. In the week and a half it took for Cale to fully recover, he had attempted to reach Super Saiyan again multiple times, but had only done so by remembering the feelings of rage and despair that had incited his first transformation. "Cale, I don't think that training would have been enough," he said, pulling his brother back down into a kneeled position besides him.

Kal'teek nodded where she sat among the elders, standing up from the stool she was seated at upon the raised platform. "Your brother is wise for all his inexperience," the brothers' adoptive mother responded. "Goku, during his time here, quickly found that rage and sorrow were what fueled his transformations. In time he learned how to achieve the form without such drastic extremes of emotion, but even when he was as strong as he had been on Namek, his closest friend had to die for his powers to unlock."

The village's leader stood, Kal'teek quickly taking her seat, and cleared his throat before addressing the brothers. "Had we told you both from the beginning what potential your Saiyan blood held, you would have trained in the hopes of reaching Super Saiyan, using the existence of the ability as a crutch should you fail. It was only through ignorance that you two would have achieved the power necessary to appreciate your Saiyan abilities instead of relying on the chance that your ascensions could happen at any time."

Cale's eyes widened when he realized that they were right, and he fell into a brood besides Rek, staring down at the ground between his knees. It was Rek who spoke up this time, although he was much more calm than Cale had been. "But what of my brother?" he asked, glancing over at Cale. He could see his brother's pride was wounded far deeper than his body had been. Even on the cusp of passing his rite, Cale had once again been proven weak compared to his brother. He hadn't been raised like one, but there was no denying that Cale was a Saiyan. "I didn't expect this to happen, but now Cale knows the truth."

Kal'teek stepped forwards, sighing, and hopped down from the platform to trot over to where the brothers were. She didn't have to reach to place her hands on Cale and Rek's shoulders, the two already at half height, and let out another, softer sigh when she had them in her hands. "I was worried about this," she admitted, looking Rek in the eyes. "We had hoped…" she began, casting a wary glance towards Cale and wincing slightly when she noticed that his eyes were already distant. She knew as well as Rek did that he likely wouldn't come out of his state for some time. "… that the two of you might achieve it simultaneously. You boys have always been so competitive, and so closely linked. But that creature's awakening was not foreseen. Cale, you know of the abilities that lie dormant in your blood now, and that will make reaching your potential only that much more difficult." Her beaked lips curved upwards in a smile and she clapped both her hands on Cale's shoulders, grinning. "But if anything, you should be proud of yourself. Powerful enough to wake an ancient beast from its slumber, and brave enough to fight for your village against it."

Cale slapped Kal'teeks hands away, getting up quickly. Now that she could look upwards into his face, past the shaggy bangs that had hidden his features a moment before, she saw the pain and anger in his eyes, already on the brink of frustrated tears. "Powerful enough for what? To have to be saved by Rek AGAIN?" he demanded, turning and walking away. He pushed open the flap to the central village building, disappearing into the light beyond it as his power spiked, the young Saiyan taking to the skies quickly.

The Yardratian woman reached after him and started making her way towards the door before being stopped by Rek, his hand on her arm. "Don't," he cautioned, shaking his head. "He just needs time. You know Cale's always been insecure about his abilities. If he could remember Vegeta, he would know how much farther than any Saiyan on our world he's come, but I'm all he knows. Let him be."

The lead elder cleared his throat again, gesturing for Kal'teek to return to her post. "Perhaps the elder brother knows his younger counterpart more keenly than you," he agreed, watching as the elderly Yardratian woman took her seat again. "You may have known the boy for as long as he can remember, but he is still a Saiyan and we cannot understand his struggle."

Rek nodded, shifting into a slightly more comfortable position. "Cale will come around," he said after the elder finished speaking, looking up at the group of them. "He'll get in some sword training to blow off some steam and probably injure a few sparring mates, but that's all." Rek's tone became much more serious, the experienced warrior taking over where the caring older brother had been a moment before, his eyes s teeling over with all of the determination of a soldier ready for battle. "But if you have trained Goku to harness his abilities, I want you to do the same for me. Teach me to be a Super Saiyan. I understand this power, but I have to control it."

The elders all looked to one another, even Kal'teek unsure if Rek was ready to begin the same training Goku had undergone so soon. But when all eyes fell on the lead elder, the wizened Yardratian standing and remaining silent as he appraised Rek for a moment, the two of them locking eyes, he finally gave an affirmative nod and a grunt. "Very well, Rek Reigo. You have proven yourself many times over to be reliable and trustworthy, contrary to your less than benign upbringing. Your training starts immediately."

And so it was that Rek began to move forwards, learning to better understand his body's new abilities, while Cale committed himself to training harder, hoping to reach the same level that Rek had. As Rek's abilities as a Super Saiyan grew, Cale's abilities as a fighter in general grew as well. His already acute mastery of advanced Instant Transmission Techniques became more pinpoint accurate, and his skills with a sword continued to be honed. But every time Cale felt Rek ascend somewhere far away on the planet, he was reminded that for all the strength he was gaining, the younger Reigo brother was still far behind his elder. For six months the two brothers trained, both in their own ways, until at last Rek learned to master his Super Saiyan form while Cale continued working to achieve his to no avail, something that Rek began training Cale for personally.

The sonic booms from fist against fist could be heard for miles, the air distorting around pressure waves thick enough to blast the grass from rocks far below and clear the fog for hundreds of yards in every direction as the two Saiyans clashed once again. Almost as soon as the fog had been pushed out, the condense, roiling miasma crashed back together and was separated again in another location, another boom erupting as two bright lights burned into existence at the epicenter of the explosions of strength, one crimson and another silver.

"You've gotten a lot stronger in only half a year, brother," Rek grinned, his hand holding Cale's elbow away from his face, the muscles in Cale's arm and Rek's hand contracting and twitching as Rek fought to keep Cale from overpowering him.

Cale grit his teeth, doing everything he could to try and inch his elbow closer to Rek's face, even if he couldn't fully connect. But he was wasting energy at this point and decided to pull his foot back, instead bringing his knee up towards Rek's diaphragm from below in a rising strike. Rek's eyes widened for a moment before he dropped his higher guard, both hands flashing down to catch Cale's knee. But that left his face completely unguarded from the left hook that Cale threw across Rek's cheek, the older brother's flesh indenting around Cale's knuckles as he was knocked off balance up in the air. For a moment the scene appeared to be frozen before Cale's follow through finished, Rek rocketing off through the fog and leaving a hole in the mist as he went, crimson aura fading down into the depths of the canyon below.

The younger of the two wasn't going to dive down there, his instincts knew as well as his wit that it would be walking right into his opponent's hand. He drifted up higher, escaping the rolling green hue of the eternal fog surrounding Yardrat's wastes and kept his gaze downwards, black eyes raking the mist waiting for any sign of movement or energy while Rek waited below, hoping that he could outlast Cale's patience and force his brother to dive down. But it seemed that Cale's power wasn't all that had grown, his intelligence as a fighter had as well. After a few tense minutes of waiting, Rek finally accepted that Cale had won that particular battle and powered up, shooting upwards.

Cale picked up on the coming energy as soon as it spiked, turning in the direction Rek was flying up from and raising his arms above his head, generating a wide ball of ki in the air above him. It quickly expanded as he poured more energy into it, the silver orb reaching a width of more than ten yards before he lurched forwards, swinging his arms down over his head as he doubled over, sending the massive sphere of ki downwards towards Rek's location. The fog dissipated around the orb, vaporizing under the heat of Cale's compressed ki, as it barreled down on Rek's head.

But where there had been a faint crimson glow from Rek's coming aura, the edges of Cale's hastily crafted ball of ki began to shine through a bright gold, Rek's aura jumping considerably. Cale's eyes widened as a small golden pinprick appeared in the center of his attack, Rek charging through the orb, his fist lined with ki as his blazing aura appeared to be so condense that it protected his body from harm, although it was much more likely that Cale's attack simply couldn't harm a Super Saiyan. The younger Reigo backed away into the air, realizing that he was about to experience a world of pain, but couldn't do anything to get away from Rek as the Super Saiyan transmitted into the air in front of him just as Cale turned around, shaking his head, golden spikes waving upwards in his aura. "Good effort," he said, launching a mild uppercut into Cale's stomach. But what was mild for Rek, was shattering for Cale. The young Saiyan bent over in pain, the breath leaking out of his lungs, and tasted blood in his mouth just before he was up-ended and dragged downwards through the air by his ankle.

"Reeeeeeek!" Cale shouted, clawing backwards at the air as he was taken downwards quickly, firing off a few stray ki blasts, none of which connected. "Goddammit, Rek, that's not fair!" He struggled to contact his fingers to his forehead, focusing his ki mentally as he readied to attempt an instant transmission out of the dive, but almost felt a vein in his skull pop when he sensed Rek's interference, looking down to see that his brother had fingers against his forehead as well.

"Can't let you forget which one of us is still the strongest now can I, little brother?" Rek asked, grinning maliciously. "I know how good you are with that, but it won't help this time!" In a matter of seconds the ground came rushing up to meet the brothers and Rek flipped over in the air, sending Cale down at a breakneck speed. There was a thunderous crash as Cale's body smashed against the hardened floor of the wastes. The ground split and splintered into the air as the younger Reigo brother carved a niche out of it, sailing backwards through the ground until his momentum was finally slowed. Rek landed, dusting his hands off, and dropped out of Super Saiyan, placing his hands on his hips and blowing a breath upwards to fix a stray lock of hair that had fallen in the wrong place, smiling at the cracks in the ground where Cale's body lay. He knew well enough that his brother would survive the impact.

But what he didn't expect was almost immediate retaliation. By the time he picked up on Cale's energy next to him, Rek didn't have time to react as Cale used Instant Transmission to close the gap, his forehead and arms dripping blood from cuts and scrapes. He fought past the pain to keep going, taking advantage of Rek's momentarily dropped guard, and spun around as soon as he had transmitted in, his heel driving into Rek's gut and lifting the older Saiyan off of the ground. Cale set his stance and reversed, sending a string of quick kicks up Rek's side and lifting him just that much farther into the air before flipping over backwards and bringing both of his legs up from underneath to catch Rek before he had fallen, sending the older brother up into the air with a vicious double kick. As soon as Cale's feet touched the ground again he cast his eyes upwards only long enough to track Rek's velocity before launching up himself, closing in with a punch as his knuckles began to shine silver, lined with enough ki to amplify his strength considerably, but found his strike going through air as Rek's afterimage faded the moment he swung.

Cale's only had time to give a preliminary wince, knowing what was to come, before he felt the full force of Rek delivering an axehandle blow from above, Cale once again careening towards the ground. Rek dove down after him, chastising himself for letting his guard down so easily, but couldn't help but note how far Cale had come in only six months; his younger brother's power was now nearly comparable to where his own had been just before ascending. But that didn't change very much when Rek's own power had been growing as well, and he was about to unleash the full force of that power, his own fist shining crimson, as Cale brought himself to a stop mere feet from the ground and turned to face the coming fury of Rek, before a voice rang out in their minds.

"BOYS, COME TO DINNER ALREADY!"

Kal'teek's untimely command tripped both brothers up, and Rek lost his focus as Cale drifted slightly, causing both punches to miss and the two brothers to collide into one another face first twenty feet above the ground. What had been a monumental fight only moments before quickly became a schoolyard scrap as the brothers half attempted to disentangle themselves, and half continued trying to beat at each other even as they fell through the air. It took the shock of impact for the two to fully separate, Cale and Rek bouncing away, and for a moment they glared at each other before first Rek cracked a smile, and then Cale, both brothers unable to keep from laughing at the sorry state both of them had been reduced to by the fight.

"I was worried you were going to KILL ME!" Cale guffawed, holding his stomach and keeling over onto his side.

"Me kill you?! How did you even get back up after that throw?!" Rek demanded, reaching over and punching Cale in the shoulder. The younger brother glared at Rek for a moment, feeling that the punch was a bit harder than it had to been, and when Rek locked eyes with him the two of them launched at each other again before Kal'teek's voice once again rang out.

"NOW, or no food!"

That was more than enough incentive for the two Saiyans to get moving, although they once again found themselves a jumble of arms and legs. Cale managed to put his fingers to his forehead somehow and teleported the both of them via Instant Transmission into their hut, both Cale and Rek dropping onto the ground in front of Kal'teek, who was transporting a rather sizeable pot of stew, and continued half brawling as they got free of one another.

"Hey, you're on my le-"

"Shut up, my arm's going nu-"

"Like I care! Get your elbow out of my ch-"

"OW! We said no low blows!"

"I'll show you a low blo-"

The Reigo brothers found their impromptu brawl halted by an outside force, Kal'teek holding her hands upwards and lifting both of them into the air telekinetically, sending them both away from each other into opposite walls of the hut, letting them fall and picking her pot back up to finish the trip to the table. The boys stood, dusting themselves off, and made their way over quickly, taking their seats across from each other but not before both getting in one last hit just before Kal'teek turned to face them and took her own seat.

"Apologies, Kal'teek," Rek said quickly, bowing and grabbing a spoonful of soup to ladle into his bowl. "Cale here doesn't know when to quit a fight."

Cale snatched the spoon as soon as Rek put it back, putting in twice as much soup as Rek had grabbed, the eldest Reigo knowing a challenge when he saw one. "Yeah, well at least /I/ can fight fair!" the raven haired youth shot back, starting to wolf down his stew.

"There's nothing fair about how you fight, flitting around with Instant Transmission like that!" Rek argued, his words punctuated with gulps of stew in place of breaths of air as he began keeping up with Cale's eating, Kal'teek merely sitting between the two of them and eating calmly. "I'm surprised he didn't bring Edge to our spar!"

"Don't you bring my sword into this!" Cale said, pointing his spoon threateningly. "I don't need that thing to fight you!"

"Ha! You'd need that thing to fight your way out of a paper ba-"

"You haven't told him, have you Rek?" Kal'teek's interjection caused both brothers to stop in their tracks, both eating and trash talking.

Cale's eyes flitted between Kal'teek and Rek, noticing that his older brother had suddenly gone from playful to solemn. "… told me what?" he asked, worry growing in his voice.

Rek placed his spoon back into his bowl, eyes staring down at the stew left in the bottom, and tried to find the right words for a long moment as Cale's apprehension grew almost palpable. "I'm leaving, Cale."


	9. Chapter 9 - Together

Kal'teek put her hands together, small fingers intertwining, and nodded. "Yes, after repairing Goku's ship we already had some experience with it, although you boys' ships were in much rougher shape after deteriorating in space. But we did what we could. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough. We could get them to turn on… but we had to dismantle one of them for the parts to repair the other.

"Wh… what do you mean?" Cale asked again, looking into Rek's eyes, trying to hope that he could get some glimmer of a better understanding somehow.

"What I mean is that only one of our pods is capable of taking off and escaping orbit again," he said after a moment, grimacing as he looked back at Cale's pained expression. "The elders have been working on a ship big enough for the both of us for some time now by recreating the materials that made our ships, but it's not quite ready yet. I'm going to take the one working pod and leave on my ow-"

"You're doing WHAT?!" Cale asked again, standing up from the table quickly. "You… You can't! We were supposed to leave /together!/ We have to find the rest of the Saiyans if there are any out there, and show them that there's another way to live!"

"I know, Cale," Rek said quietly, looking up at his brother. He wasn't angry, only understanding. "I know what we agreed on, but I can't pass this opportunity up. Right now, I'm strong enough to handle anything the galaxy has, but yo-"

"I'm just a weakling, right?" the younger brother demanded, balling his fists up. "Just because you've ascended and I haven't, you're going to leave me behind? "

Kal'teek sensed the worst coming, and did her best to try and calm Cale. "Your brother isn't saying you're weak, Cale," she tried to assure him, hopping up and dashing over to put a hand on his arm, patting it gently. "He just feels that now is his opportunity."

"Cale, if it weren't for what happened during your test, I wouldn't have ascended at all," Rek explained, shaking his head. "And without some form of massive trauma, you won't be able to either. It's not something that can be forced. You aren't weak, but you just aren't as strong as I am now that I've unlocked Super Saiyan."

A few of the plates on the low dining area cracked and splintered as Cale made a frustrated gesture; a burst of telekinesis due to his heightened emotions. "So I almost DIE, and you have to save me and everyone else, then you disappear for months off training with the elders only to come back for a few weeks to tell me you're going to leave the planet entirely?!" Tears of anger and pain began forming in the young fighter's eyes as he felt the promise he and Rek had made breaking. "You said it was going to be us, the two of us, always with each other. Because we were all that was left now!"

Kal'teek paled a bit, and Rek caught her glancing away with a pained look. He stood now as well, growing angry at Cale's insensitivity. The Yardratian woman had been as much of a mother to the two of them as she'd been able to, and Cale was spouting out something Rek had said twelve years before when it HAD been just the two of them. "Cale, you're my brother," he said, half a growl. "You know I would do anything for you-"

"Then stay for me! Help me get stronge-"

"BUT, there's no way for me to simply train you into a Super Saiyan. Not when you can't even remember all of what happened on Planet Vegeta. That's the only thing I could possibly use from your life to cause a rise in your blood of the level needed to ascend," he said, not stopping as Cale interjected. Rek walked around the small table, putting his shoulders on Cale as the younger of the two looked down, hot tears falling. "You need to stay here, and train," he said, eliciting a cringe from Cale. "Not because you're weak, but because the galaxy is strong. Stronger than either of us can prepare for. At least as a Super Saiyan, I can escape from something that would otherwise kill me. You can't just rely on Instant Transmission to get you out of every tight position you're in, Cale."

The younger Reigo moved his arms up, smacking Rek's hands away from his shoulders, and looked up into his brother's eyes with an almost unmitigated desperation and fury. "No, but it can get me out of this," he said, putting his fingers up to his forehead and shutting his eyes for a moment.

"No, Cale, wait!" Kal'teek did her best to stop him, trying to grab hold of his arm but her hands passed through air as Cale phased out of view, having locked onto some miniscule power level far away. "You don't have… I'm sorry…" The elderly Yardratian fell to her knees, still grasping at the air, tears beginning to well in her eyes now.

Rek's anger bided immediately when Kal'teek dropped and he walked over to her, prioritizing her assurance over Cale's moodiness. His brother had a right to be mad, he would be in the same situation, but he would be fine for a time. In fact, knowing Cale it would probably be best to leave him be for a few hours. But Kal'teek needed tending now. He crouched, putting a hand on her shoulder and drawing her attention. "He doesn't mean that you know," Rek told her, his lips thin as he took in the Yardratian's tear-streaked face. "Cale loves you dearly, he's just…"

"I know," she said, rubbing at her face to dry it off. "I've watched that boy grow more frustrated each time he hit a stumbling block in spite of his progresses throughout the years. I just wish there was a way that we could get through to him."

Rek gave half a grin, his eyebrows sagging a bit. "We do, even if he doesn't show it immediately," he shrugged a bit, pulling her into a quick embrace. "But after we lost everything, Cale put a load on himself that he shouldn't have: the duty to reunite a race that honestly deserves to die for its sins. He's just too young to fully understand, and without that he's got nothing more than my promise to him and his own dreams."

Kal'teek gave a small shiver as she managed to regain control of herself, standing shakily. Her years showed through her normally composed, warm, motherly mindset for a moment. "I wasn't able to have children of my own, to help the village grow," she said, busying herself with the dishes Cale had broken in his outburst. "But when you two arrived, I saw an opportunity to. And you both have helped so much, stopped natural disasters, given new knowledge to our clan, acted as ambassadors to others."

"And we appreciate everything you, and the others here, have given us," Rek reassured her, helping her clean up. "But Cale's got it in his head that he needs to leave someday. I just don't think he has it in his head how much there is to handle. I've seen some of the things that exist in this galaxy." Rek's eyes grew distant for a moment, his actions stopping. "… I've seen entire platoons of fighters be swallowed up, or burst into cinders. Vaporized like they were nothing more than air to begin with. I can't let Cale go out there with me when he's still so idealistic."

Kal'teek turned back to Rek, her beaky mouth spread in a grin. "You're a good brother, Rek Reigo. And if you ever find yourself a nice Saiyanness out there, you'll make an excellent father."

Rek grinned back, shaking his head. "I'm nothing compared to our father. He understood that the Saiyans would rise up some day, even if we were simply too stupid to know when we should have. He shamed himself, joining the Science Corps, just to ensure that we Saiyans had what we needed to survive on our own as a race. Not to need to steal technology from other races ever again."

The Yardratian moved over to Rek, her diminutive stature made all the more apparent as she drew closer to the tall warrior. "Yes, and one day you and Cale will find more Saiyans, I'm sure of it. You'll both become great leaders," she said, her eyes shining a bit. "But right now, I think you should go and take care of your younger brother. Perhaps it would be best, at least this time, not to give him the chance to mull all this over too much."

Rek nodded in return, turning to put his fingers up to his forehead. "Yes, I suppose you're rig-" he froze, midword, as a slight tremor shook the area, followed by another larger rumbling through the air itself. His eyes widened, and he spun on the spot to face Kal'teek, her face a mirror of Rek's shock.

"He isn't," she said, shaking her head slightly.

Rek's face became grim, and he put his fingers up to his forehead again. "He is, and I have to stop him."

"W-wait, I can help you!" she said, putting her own fingers up to her forehead and trying to lock onto Cale's rising power in the distance.

"No you won't," Rek shot back, barking out his command. Kal'teek looked like she'd been struck for a moment before she nodded reluctantly, dropping her own fingers. "I'm the only one who can survive being near him right now." The eldest Reigo put his fingers back up to his forehead, shutting his eyes and trying to lock onto Cale, who's power was rising erratically far off in the desert. But as the moments passed, the tremors getting stronger, he began gritting his teeth. "Damnit… his power is all over the place, he can't control it!" he burst out after a few more moments, blinking a few times before putting his fingers back up against his head. "I can't get a good lock, but maybe I can just… just get close enough…" A few tense moments later, Rek's head beginning to split in pain from the weight of his concentration, and he vanished from Kal'teek's kitchen.

Only to arrive in the midst of a maelstrom. Just as Rek, Kal'teek, and most likely the majority of the planet had felt, Cale was pushing his power to the absolute limit. Rek's clothes immediately began to flail around, ripping as the vicious winds shot past him, and he tossed his arms up in a cross in front of him as a few large rocks were sent flying at him. Amidst all the chaos, Cale was hunched over in the center of the disturbance, his teeth bared, his fists clenched, muscles tight while his silver aura ripped through the air, extending far out past his body. Cale was trying to ascend, focusing on his anger at being left behind, and his power was spiking sharply. And it didn't look like it was going to work.

"CALE!" Rek shouted, taking a shaky step forwards, a wave of dust blinding his vision for a moment. "CAAALE, YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS!"

Cale finally recognized Rek's presence, casting a glance over from his planted position for a moment, and shut his eyes as he pushed his power higher, letting out a harsh scream. "N-NO!" he rejected, hunching over and contracting his limbs a bit before he stretched his body out, chest rising, and forced his power past its limit. "I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE ME! I… I CAN'T LOSE YOU TOO!" Flashes of brilliant gold began filtering in with Cale's expanded silver aura, his hair rising slowly and beginning to flash lighter intermittently as he grunted, his teeth grit hard enough to crush diamond.

For a few moments, Rek began to think Cale was going to achieve it. Perhaps his younger brother's desperation to prove himself would be enough to grant his ascension. Cale was a powerfully willful young fighter… the thought of being abandoned due to a perceived weakness might be enough. Rek watched, being pushed back slightly in the wake of Cale's emitting force. But after a few more moments, his pupils stopped flashing to green and disappeared entirely, his body beginning to bulge outwards as it began overloading with power. Cale's strength spiraled out of his control, and as his body began to crackle, steam rising in place of the sweat that had been coating him. Rek was knocked over in a sudden, extreme burst of rising power and he quickly realized that Cale's ascension was going wrong.

His power was rising dangerously high, and his body wasn't adapting to the change. Cale was losing control of his own energy, and if he didn't snap out of it, he would simply self destruct. And with his power surpassing what Rek could remember of Frieza's first form, he would likely take a large portion of Yardrat with him when he did. Rek brought himself to his feet, trying to walk forwards, closer to his brother, but was buffeted by the whipping gales centered from Cale, pushed back farther than he progressed forwards. Desperate to reach Cale, Rek centered his ki for a moment before his ascension lit the area, his body glowing golden as his power skyrocketed. More firmly grounded now, he began pushing forwards again, making a slow and steady progress towards Cale.

It took a few more moments before he got closer, but Rek found himself staring into the face of his desperate younger brother, and for a brief second couldn't bring himself to act. Bared plain in front of him, Cale was doing everything in his power just to prove his worth. Rek felt no small pang of guilt; in a way this was his fault. He had chosen to leave Cale behind and to strike out on his own, partly from protection and partly from arrogance. He knew the galaxy better than Cale did, and he WAS a Super Saiyan. There was no guarantee he could survive out there, it was impossible to know what could be waiting, and yet he was willing to throw himself out and leave his brother behind. Maybe he hadn't been quite as successful at leaving behind his Saiyan upbringing as Cale had been.

Rek reached out slowly, putting his hands on Cale's face, and tried to shake him out of his power induced trance. "Cale, I know that it hurts," he said, trying to calm the far-gone boy. "But you have to stop this! Think of what you're doing, this isn't the way to prove how strong you are!"

Cale's response was a gurgled grunt, and another massive burst of wind that nearly shot Rek away in spite of his ascension. The eldest Reigo held his ground, putting his forehead against Cale's and shutting his eyes. "Cale, this isn't how you can prove your power!" he tried again, gripping Cale tighter. "And if you don't get some control over yourself, all you'll do is kill everyone we care about! Do you really want to do to this planet what Frieza did to hours?!"

Rek watched as Cale's face changed, relaxing slightly, his hair returning to it's normally, slightly drooped spikes, his black pupils returning as Cale fought to regain control of himself. Rek had gotten through somehow, and he didn't quite care what had done it. Cale's power was dropping, his body beginning to cool off, but a fresh flow of hot tears began dripping down his cheeks again when Cale saw his brother so close, fighting to save him from himself.

"Rek, I… I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, his rage finally subsiding, the winds around him dying down quickly as Cale dropped to his knees.

Rek dropped with Cale, changing his hold to wrap Cale's shoulders with his arms, pulling his brother in closer. Cale's body was radiating heat like a furnace, and Rek could feel how close he'd been to losing everything he had left. "No, I'm sorry Cale. I pushed you to this… but you have to understand."

Cale grasped onto his brother harder, shaking his head as his body was wracked with desperate sobs. "I d-do, Rek," he gasped out, pulling back and casting his gaze downwards, ashamed to look at Rek directly. "You… You're a Super Saiyan and I'm… I'm only a Saiyan. And Saiyans have already shown they couldn't handle the galaxy."

Rek smirked, giving Cale a knock on the shoulder. "Cale, don't every say that again," he denied. "It's got nothing to do with being a Saiyan. All that matters is that you're willing to die for what you believe in. Bardock was, and so were our parents. But there's no reason to put yourself at risk for no reason." He waited for a moment, letting it sink in. "12 months. Give me one year, and stay here on Yardrat training. I'll be back before then, just give me long enough to see what I can find, what all it is out there, and if it's safe then I'll come back for you. By then, the elders will have our ship ready and we'll be able to leave."

Cale looked up at Rek slowly, processing what he was being told. "Together?" he asked, starting to smile.

Rek nodded back, grinning and giving him another knock on the shoulder. "But only if you can hold the kind of power you were just throwing around WITHOUT damn near blowing yourself up," he chided, standing and pulling Cale up with him. "Plus, with me gone you'll be the only Saiyan on this planet for the warriors to fight. You'll have plenty of sparring partners."

The younger Reigo dusted himself off, adjusting his torn up clothes, and punched Rek square in the chest, knocking his older brother over as he came out of his transformation and returned to normal. "If you keep making it so easy to tell when you're going to change forms, I might even win our next fight," Cale teased back, turning to take off. But he was jolted to a stop after only a few feet, his ankle gripped tight.

"I think you spoke to soon, little brother," Rek warned, a vicious glint in his eyes. "Our next fight is now."


End file.
